


Lockdown

by crystalsnowflakes



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:40:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25211806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystalsnowflakes/pseuds/crystalsnowflakes
Summary: A mysterious virus has spread through Gaia and in an attempt to ‘flatten the curve’, cities throughout the world have gone into lockdown.In a moment of impulsivity and poor decision making, Yuffie agrees to stay with Reno for the duration of the lockdown and they must navigate not only their dysfunctional relationship with each other, but also this ‘new normal’ all the while staying sane.[Revised August 2020]
Relationships: Yuffie Kisaragi/Reno
Comments: 48
Kudos: 30





	1. Day 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You wanna stay here for the lockdown?” Reno finally asked, walking right up to the door.
> 
> “...Is that such a good idea?” Yuffie asked hesitantly, “I’d probably drive you crazy. Could be weeks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I’ve been ‘stuck at home’ for almost four months now… This was supposed to be full of plotless fluff & humour, but now it’s grown to be a little more? I have no idea where this is going, but it’ll be a short multi-chaptered fic.
> 
> Warning: References to COVID-19. This is meant as a light-hearted fic and not meant to be taken seriously. I realize that many people have lost families and friends due to COVID and their livelihoods are also at risk. I hope a viable vaccine gets created so that we can go back to ‘normal’. I am currently in Canada, so many of the lockdown procedures are based in Canada where I am. Please forgive any medical inaccuracies!

On the mornings that they wake up together, they have an unspoken agreement. Yuffie’s not allowed to open her mouth before Reno gets his first sip of coffee, because he just might fry her ass for being so cheerfully loud at the crack of dawn. She breaks the rule periodically anyways because she’s not a rule follower and he can’t find it in himself to kill her just yet because while he would never admit it, he enjoys the ninja’s company a little too much.

It was chilly. She shivered as she kicked the blankets off herself and threw on the closest article of clothing—his standard issue dress shirt—before walking to the kitchen, forgoing her undergarments. She took a quick look at the clock and tried to rub the sleep away from her eyes before digging through the fridge and throwing two cut bagels into the toaster oven. Eyes flickering over to the coffee machine, she debated on whether she should start a pot, but ultimately decided against it because it was  _ his _ job.

His disgruntled yawn made her aware of his presence and she glimpsed at his face fleetingly, making a split-second decision that today was not a good day to push his buttons. Not yet anyways. She grinned cheekily at him instead.

His body leaned against the floor-to-ceiling kitchen cabinet as he leered at her creamy legs, his gaze resting on his unbuttoned shirt that left barely anything to the imagination. She reciprocated the gesture by tip-toeing and grazing his chiseled jaw with her lips, giggling briefly when she felt his calloused hands palming her rear brazenly. She twisted her body expertly out of his arms and skipped over to the washroom, knowing he would join her soon.

As she turned on the shower and undressed, she heard the beginnings of the coffee brewing and two empty mugs being placed on the kitchen counter.

Just like clockwork.

Jumping into the shower, she relished the way the water rolled down her body and closed her eyes, soaking her hair. And then she felt his warm hands on her sides, his mouth on the back of her neck and she bit back a moan. A flutter of excitement curled through her when she felt his hardness against her back as one of his rough hands roamed upwards—cupping and teasing—his other trailing lower and lower.

“You perv,” she breathed out shakily. Her stomach clenched in anticipation as she arched her back, her head dropping against his shoulder. 

“You want it,” he murmured huskily, his voice low, sending shivers down her spine. His hand flicked the shower off—the last time they had attempted to do anything in the shower while the water was running, they had nearly slipped and bashed their heads against the tub.

“Maybe,” she admitted with a soft sigh, knowing they were past the point of being coy.

* * *

She pulled the warm bagels from the toaster oven—a generous heap of garlic cream cheese on two halves, strawberry jam on the other two. He grabbed the mugs—two spoonfuls of sugar and a liberal amount of cream in one, just a splash of cream in the other—then he poured the rich, dark brew until it reached the rim.

Looking satisfied, he took a big gulp of his cup before he carried both to the coffee table and sprawled himself onto the couch. His gaze settled on her. “When am I seein’ you next?”

Yuffied carried the plates to the table, setting them down beside their respectful mugs before she sat down, tucking her legs under her. She bit her lips hesitantly before answering with a shrug, “Iunno. Reeve mentioned a mission in Junon planned for tomorrow, but with the possibility of a lockdown, I don't know if I'm being sent still."

His eyes narrowed slightly and she felt her back tense ever so slightly because she knew her face must have betrayed something. Eyebrows quirked in curiosity, he asked, “What is it, brat?”

Her grip on her cup tightened slightly before she forced her fingers to relax and she grimaced slightly as she answered, “Teef set me up for a blind date tonight.” Her brown eyes met his gaze boldly. “Will you be home after?”

She watched in fascination as his face darkened slightly before he spun his face away from hers. His calloused hand snatched up the remote control, turning on the television before he took a bite of his cream cheese bagel.

“Maybe.”

The truth was, she would be happy to cancel the date because she wasn’t interested in dating anyone else, but he was the one who refused to label whatever they had going on as anything, choosing instead to hide their relationship in the confines of the apartment. She didn’t disagree with it—she knew damn well why, even though she would never admit it to herself either. Swallowing the small lump in her throat, she gulped down the guilt, reassuring herself that it wasn’t  _ really _ her fault. She was not going to be sorry for not putting her life on hold because he was too much of a turkey to admit that he was jealous when she went out on dates. If he would only say the word, she would gladly tell Tifa to stop setting her up on dates.

“Fine,” she muttered, a little annoyed. “I’ll call if I decide to drop by then.” She took a sip of her sweetened coffee before focusing her attention on the news.

_ “Lockdown measures are being imposed in the city of Edge and Junon as of noon today due to the new virus that has been spreading throughout Gaia. Residents of Edge and Junon will be required to stay home unless travelling to work, studying, shopping for food or medical appointments. The decision was announced hours ago by Reeve Tuesti, the Commissioner of the WRO. For additional information, please check the WRO website.”  _

“Huh,” she murmured, a little surprised, not having expected the abrupt announcement. Reeve had mentioned a possible lockdown and what it might entail, but she hadn’t expected it so soon. Infection rates must have gotten really bad for them to have jumped onto the boat so soon. “I didn’t get a call from Reeve this morning. He must’ve been swamped with the announcement from this morning. You get a message from Rufus?” she asked.

Reno checked his phone briefly and shook his head. “They must’ve both been in meetings till this mornin’.”

“Noon, huh? Guess my assignment to Junon and my date tonight are cancelled,” she declared, casting a look at the redhead.

He didn’t seem to care at all as he continued eating his bagel, picking up bits of information regarding the lockdown from the news channel.

Yuffie huffed a little, taking a big bite of her breakfast as she made an internal list of things she had to do before noon today. Looking at the clock and noticing that she really only had three hours before lockdown technically began—she had to make it back to her room by then—she shoved the rest of the bagel in her mouth and swigged down her coffee. 

“I better run some errands before heading back to the WRO before they start kicking people off the streets,” she explained as she dumped the dishes in the dishwasher. “Probably won’t be seeing you in a while then, Turkey.”

“Aren’t you WRO? Won’t you technically be exempt or some shit?” Reno scoffed.

Yuffie shrugged breezily. “Probably, but don’t wanna abuse it, y’know. Doubt Reeve will be getting me to do much at this time, so I’ll probably be staying around the building anyways.”

He frowned for a moment and while Yuffie was curious and wanted to ask what was on his mind, Reno tended to shut people out if he was pushed. Deciding that he would speak up if he had something to say, she grabbed her knapsack and headed to the entrance, slipping her feet into those boots she loved but took forever to lace up.

“You wanna stay here for the lockdown?” he finally asked, walking right up to the door.

She looked up in surprise from her boots and she knew it took more effort than he had let on to ask that. She’d stayed overnight numerous times, but it had never been more than short bursts at a time and she had always made sure to leave first thing in the morning.

“...Is that such a good idea?” she asked hesitantly, “I’d probably drive you crazy. Could be weeks.”

His eyes narrowed at her. “You’d rather be stuck in your room at the WRO? I doubt you’ll be able to wander around the entire compound.”

She bit her lips, a little unsure, but tempted at his offer. Her room at the WRO was small and she doubted she’d have as much freedom there than here. On the other hand, while she enjoyed time with Reno, they tended to drive each other up the wall if they spent too much time together. “I don’t really have my clothes…” she trailed off.

“The hell do you need clothes for during a lockdown? I’ve got enough shirts and shorts that’ll fit you,” he muttered. “But don’t stay if you don’t wanna.”

Her head tilted slightly as she studied his slight scowl. He would never admit it, but she knew he wanted her to stay—at least, part of her hoped so. “Fine, fine,” she grinned, “You’ve convinced me. I’ll stay.”

He looked away from her face, holstering his gun and nightstick before slipping on his own shoes. “Good, otherwise I’d have to call my last date to keep me company.”

She stuck out her tongue at him. “Liar. You don’t keep anyone’s number.”

“I keep yours,” he shot back.

She felt the flutters in her stomach instantly but tampered it down, reverting back to her confident self, “I  _ am _ pretty awesome.” And before she could change her own mind, she dragged his face down to hers, kissed him forcefully and shot out the apartment with a cackle.

* * *

They spent the better part of the next two hours at a groceries store fighting for canned goods, frozen foods, dried goods and  _ toilet paper  _ because people were being lunatics and hoarding everything they could get their hands on. Reno stocked up on alcohol and smokes, probably enough to last him a year, although Yuffie threatened that she would toss out his boxes of smokes if he ever smoked them in front of her.

When they had returned back to the apartment, she had received an email blast to remind all WRO employees to adhere to the guidelines of the WRO for lockdowns and to keep their phones on them at all times and to check their emails frequently. Reno, on the other hand, received a call from Tseng and had walked to the balcony for a smoke. 

Packing away the groceries as best as she could, she felt exhausted after and threw herself onto his bed, not for the first time wondering if she had made a mistake in accepting the invitation to stay. The last few times she had spent the nights, he had been  _ moody _ in the mornings and she couldn’t quite figure out what it was that she had done. Sometimes he would wake up and be in a good mood, all joking and almost  _ sweet _ . Other mornings, he would wake up snarky and irritable, almost like this morning.

Sighing, she sent a quick message to Tifa to make sure she was safe and to remind her to cancel the date, and to also let her know that she was in the area if Tifa ever needed help. Yuffie suspected that Cloud wasn’t on the Eastern Continent. He rarely was, preferring to spend his time on Fenrir, fighting monsters and running away from his own demons.

Then she sent a quick message to Reeve and Vincent to let them know that she was still in Edge and that she was available to help with whatever necessary. She didn’t bother getting in touch with Godo since she knew Wutai was relatively untouched by the virus because of their tightly controlled borders. She tossed her phone onto her pillow, scowling a bit because she was already bored and they were only three hours into their lockdown.

“‘Lena’s comin’ to drop off a laptop for work. I’m gonna be workin’ remotely from home, whatever the fuck that means,” Reno said irritably while leaning against the doorframe of the room.

Yuffie looked at him. “When? I’ll make sure to steer clear.”

There was something unreadable in his eyes. “Fine.”

She frowned. “You’ve been in a shitty mood all morning. What’s up with that?”

He gave her a look, turned around, and slammed the door shut.

“Gawd, what a drama queen,” Yuffie grumbled to herself.

* * *

Yuffie had always questioned her own sanity when she had allowed him to drag her between his bedsheets. They had always flirted with each other, but had never progressed much farther because they worked with each other and it would be so awkward otherwise. But he had kissed her at the bar one night after their joint mission and she could not ever recall any other kiss rendering her so breathless.

And while Yuffie was not a one-night stand type, she  _ had _ expected it to be one because Reno was. But then he’d texted her two nights later with an invitation to another bar. And a few nights after that again. And the following week, she’d unlocked his balcony doors and he had welcomed her in with a smirk.

If she were honest with herself, they were great together when they weren’t driving each other up the walls because he was witty enough to throw back whatever insults she came up with, and she would never take his put-downs lying down. And the thought that this was the man she’d be bringing back to Wutai with her brought her immeasurable satisfaction because Godo would flip his shit.

...But of course, Reno would never be willing to be brought home. Nobody else even knew about them and sometimes, she felt like she was his dirty little secret.

She sighed, tucking her head under his chin.

His arms tightened around her. “Gil for your thoughts?”

But he was cold and then he was hot and she could never quite know which Reno to expect. He could be so pleasant to be with one moment before he flipped a switch and was a giant asshole. And he wasn’t even  _ just _ an asshole, he knew exactly what cutting remarks to say to make it  _ hurt _ and not for the first time, Yuffie wondered why she agreed to stay with him during the lockdown.

“Sex with you sucks,” she said cheekily into his chest instead.

“That why you keep comin’ back for more?” he asked, and she loved hearing his voice vibrating through his chest.

“You keep begging me to come by and I feel bad saying no,” she retorted, “Pity sex.”

And then he kissed her on the top of her head so tenderly and she felt her heart lurching and all the flutters she pushed away came springing right back. She knew it was an unhealthy relationship, but she would take whatever he gave because she wasn’t ready to give up this addiction of hers just yet.

She was never going to admit to herself that she was in love with him anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Promise more fluff in the upcoming chapters… I hope. I’m not sure how my fluff piece turned out like this. Taking suggestions as to what you’ve experienced during this quarantine (especially things that drive you crazy)! I’ll be talking about weird laptop camera placements for video calls next chapter haha.
> 
> As usual, comments and suggestions are very much appreciated!


	2. Day 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Reno,” Elena said in an admonishing tone, “You realize you can’t just invite prostitutes to your apartment during a lockdown.” 
> 
> Reno spluttered, disgruntled, “What the hell are you talking about ‘Lena?”

Yuffie woke up to the feel of his lips trailing down the side of her neck to her collarbone, where he proceeded to nip and suck, earning small whimpers of pleasure. She weaved her fingers through his hair, loving the feel of his smooth mane, her breath hitching slightly as his lips crept lower and lower—down her shoulders, down her navel.

“Reno…” she breathed out softly.

He grunted in response, the vibrations sending shivers down her spine as his hands roamed her backside, finally resting on her hips.

Just as things were getting interesting, the sound of his phone vibrating could be heard loudly and Reno groaned irately. He pushed himself off of her, giving her a heated gaze before snatching the phone off the bedside table and taking a glance at the screen.

“Chief,” he greeted, scowling, his hands running through his hair.

She sat up languidly and stretched, making sure to arch her back sensually before crawling over to him and kissing him hungrily before sauntering off to the kitchen. She could feel his eyes burning down her naked back and she turned around to throw a playful wink his way.

By the time she had readied the bagels, started _his_ job of brewing the coffee and showering, he had just finished his phone call. As he walked out the bedroom, he looked disappointed at the fact that she was now clad in a pair of underwear and one of his t-shirts.

“Problem with the boss?” Yuffie called to the kitchen as she rested comfortably on the couch, her knees drawn up under her chin.

Reno grabbed the cream from the fridge to pour into the mugs. “Chief and Boss were at the WRO for the meeting and they’ve made the decision to stay there for the remainder of the lockdown.”

“Makes sense,” Yuffie said, pulling up her phone to check for emails and noticed she hadn’t received any more new information since the day before. “They already have their own rooms and with the additional security, they won’t have to worry as much.”

“Got a video call with the team later today though. Gotta figure that out,” Reno said with a grimace as he placed her bright green mug in front of her before sitting down next to her.

Yuffie giggled. “You’re such an old fart. I’ll help you set it up after.”

"Thanks," he muttered, nudging her head away to kiss her shoulder blades, his hand on her thighs.

She pushed him back against the couch and straddled him instead, delighting in the way his eyes darkened with desire. “Has anyone told you what a perv you are?” she asked with an impish grin.

He grabbed her chin and tilted it down to him. “Has anyone ever told you how annoyin’ you are?” And before she could retort, he forced her chin down and kissed her greedily.

She had to stop herself from chortling when she heard the sound of her own phone ring. “Sorry,” she responded with a wide grin instead, grabbing her phone and looking at the screen.

“Fuck,” Reno growled out, “Who’s the cockblocker now?” 

“Cat-boy,” Yuffie snickered, readying herself to stand up when she felt his rough fingers clamping down her thighs tightly.

“Stay.”

Yuffie raised an eyebrow. “You’ll behave yourself?”

He rolled his eyes, but she observed the small touch of anger in his gaze now and she wondered what it was that caused it. “He won’t find out ‘bout me if that’s what you’re worried about.”

She frowned a little at his perplexing response because _he_ was the one who wanted to hide the relationship, not _her_. Shrugging, she picked up the call in her usual manner. “Great Ninja Yuffie speaking!”

_“Yuffie. Where are you? You said you were in Edge and I checked your room and called Tifa but you weren’t there.”_

Reno was looking intently at her, and feeling a little discomforted by his stare, she stuck out her tongue at him. “Eh. I’m somewhere safe. In Edge.”

She heard Reeve sigh and could imagine him at his desk, his hands rubbing his temple. _“Yuffie…”_

Yuffie rolled her eyes, both loving and hating how they were always so overprotective of her because she was the baby of the family. “I’m fine, Cat-boy. I’m at my ultra super secret boyfriend’s place in Edge. So just shoot me a message when you need me.”

Reno’s attention piqued at her response as one of his hands trailed up her sides.

_“...Who’s your super secret boyfriend? What’s his name?”_

She laughed, “It’s a _secret_ , Reeve. And I’m not telling you so you can run a background check on him. Plus,” she added a little mischievously as she looked down at Reno. “Who's to say I haven’t run my own already?”

_“And the verdict?”_

“His file’s pretty damn thick and juicy,” Yuffie giggled. “Bye Reevie! Let me know if you need me!” And before hearing his response, she hung up and tossed it to the other side of the couch. “Now where were we?”

“Boyfriend?” Reno teased, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.

For the very first time, Yuffie wondered if she was wrong about him not wanting to label whatever was going on between them. He’d never _said_ those words, now that she thought about it, but he’d been the one insisting to keep it a secret… Right? She wasn’t so sure anymore, now that she reflected back on it. Did she merely assume that?

She bit her lip, a little uncertain. “I mean, it was just something I said to get him off my back, but—”

He lifted her up as he stood up, throwing her back on the couch and she couldn’t help the shrill scream that escaped her lips before cackling. And then he pinned her down to kiss her and she found that she wasn’t all that interested in finishing her sentence anyways.

* * *

“Mhmm, I’m listening,” Yuffie murmured as she listened with half an ear, twiddling her headphone cord with one hand while the other hand swiped away at the screen. She had downloaded this ridiculously addicting game called ‘Kwazy Cupcakes’ out of boredom and hadn’t stopped playing for hours. “Yes, Teef, I’m _fine_.”

Reno glanced at her from the other end of the couch with a raised eyebrow and she returned with a roll of her eyes.

“I was exaggerating when I said his file was thick and juicy,” Yuffie muttered, a little regretful she had been so cheeky with Reeve earlier. “I haven’t seen a physical file, technically. It’s probably like, two hundred pages long or something, to be honest,” she responded with a grin.

Reno had to stifle his snort of laughter.

“Wait,” Yuffie asked in a hushed tone, covering the bottom half of the phone as she looked towards Reno, her brows furrowed, “Do you even _have_ a file?”

He shook his head in response, his eyes gleaming with amusement.

“No, Teef. He won’t murder me. Well, he might, but only cause I drive him a little crazy, y’know? Plus, you know I can kick his ass,” Yuffie said, exasperated. “I’ll be _fine_. Mhmm. I’ll update you if he decides to kill me and cut me into pieces to dispose of me.” She couldn’t stop teasing her friend before hanging up. “I’ll see you soon, Teef. Take care of yourself!”

“Overprotective rabid dogs?” Reno asked, smirking.

Yuffie shrugged. “Just imagine the calls I’ll be getting when _everyone_ finds out who you are. Actually, I take that back. I’ll just direct them your way since they have your number anyways.”

* * *

“Maybe I should just take fuckin’ vacation days,” Reno grumbled as he repositioned the laptop in front of him, attempting to find the best angle. “Who the hell decided to place the camera below the screen? My fingers look like fuckin’ spider legs when I’m typing.”

Yuffie snorted into the fruity cocktail that she had Reno mix for her in return for helping him set up the video call and she peeked over to look at his screen. “Those are some chunky spider legs. What are you guys meeting about anyways?”

“Who knows,” he grunted, “How the hell do I do this?”

“This is the join button...kinda says ‘join’. This icon is to mute, this one’s for blocking your camera… It’s pretty self-explanatory, Reno. I don’t know how you can’t figure it out,” she teased, elbowing him slightly. It was always highly entertaining to watch him struggle with technology he wasn’t used to, but he was a quick learner.

He shook his head, his hand running through his hair. “Fuckin’ ridiculous.”

“I’ll be out of sight, out of mind, I promise.” Yuffie then added, snickering to herself, “I’ll make your favourite lasagna? Store-bought frozen lasagna.”

“I prefer homemade,” Reno drawled.

She stuck out her tongue, huffing slightly, “You invited the wrong girl for the lockdown, Turkey.”

Reno waved her away as he joined the call and she bounced towards the kitchen, half tempted to pop up behind his couch to say ‘hi’ to everyone. He did seem to be open to the idea of people knowing...right?

Shrugging to herself, she began to busy herself in the kitchen, feeling a little out of her element. She was a Princess for Leviathan’s sake...that, and Seventh Heaven and the WRO cafeteria practically had a 24/7 buffet for her. What the hell was she doing, making dinner? She shot a brief glare at the Turk while remembering that Tifa had once told her that she had to preheat the oven before throwing food in...whatever that meant. She read the instructions briefly and turned on the oven to preheat it, wondering how long it would take. Wouldn’t it technically be easier to just nuke the whole damn thing in the microwave?

During her struggles with dinner, she kept her ears out, hoping to gather any tidbits of juicy information that would potentially be of interest to her. She was, afterall, a spy who was constantly on the hunt for anything that piqued her curiosity.

And because Yuffie was Yuffie, with her ears out and brains set on figuring out the oven, she didn’t quite see the corner of the fridge that was jutting out of the cabinets and rammed her toes into it, which tended to be a normal occurrence.

“Shit!” she hissed, a little too loudly because Reno’s head whipped around to look at her.

She waved at him, wincing a little sheepishly as she hopped on one foot while mouthing the word ‘sorry’, but it was already too late.

 _“Reno,”_ Elena said in an admonishing tone, _“You realize you can’t just invite prostitutes to your apartment during a lockdown.”_ Yuffie had to hold down her cackles because she could imagine how Elena’s face looked like that very moment.

Reno spluttered, disgruntled, “What the hell are you talking about ‘Lena?”

Rufus sighed and Yuffie pictured him pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers as his hair fell down the front of his face. _“It’s the second day of the lockdown, Reno. You need to be physically distancing and that means not having anyone not from your household in your home. I know that must be difficult for you, but—”_

“I’ve read the website, Boss. I know the lockdown procedures,” Reno scoffed in annoyance as he glowered at her.

Yuffie pretended not to notice and avoided his gaze, feeling just a tad guilty, but she couldn’t help that she was a klutz, especially when she didn’t need to use her awesome ninja skills. She threw the lasagna in the oven and set the timer, hoping for the best, before pulling out the prepackaged salad mix.

Reno sat up straighter on the couch. “Don’t look at me like that, Partner!” Yuffie bit her lip to prevent herself from giggling.

 _“The faster people follow the lockdown, the faster we’ll get out of it,”_ Tseng’s serious voice rang out.

“I _am_ followin’ lockdown procedures,” Reno muttered, “Stop gangin’ up on me.”

 _“So who is it?”_ Elena’s voice rang out.

“Nobody,” Reno grunted back, “Can we get on with the rest of the meetin’?” 

Yuffie frowned a bit at his response as she dumped the salad into the mixing bowl because she _was_ right. He didn’t want anyone to know. She was nothing but his dirty little secret and she knew she shouldn’t have expected anything different from _Reno_ , of all people, but…

Not for the first time, she wondered if she had really made a mistake with staying at his apartment for the unforeseeable future. It could be weeks or months and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to stay, even though she _knew_ she wasn’t ready to leave him.

She blew a piece of hair that was hanging in front of her face a little harder than necessary, part of her wanting to show Reno her displeasure because dammit, she was a legitimate princess and she deserved _more_ from him. When she looked up next, Reno was looking at her with that same damn unreadable expression on his face from yesterday before he slammed the door closed. 

She scowled back at him as she mouthed soundlessly, “What?” He didn’t respond.

She could still hear Elena asking Reno questions in the background and she turned her body around. She hated it when she got angry, because she tended to tear up even when she wasn’t _crying_ and Yuffie rarely cried.

“Actually,” Reno responded, his voice low and was that a hint of uncertainty? “I’ve been seeing a woman for a while.”

Yuffie turned around in surprise, flinching at the shrill sound of Elena _squealing._ His eyes were still on her and she suddenly felt shy with the way his eyes studied her so intensely, which was ridiculous, because he had seen and touched every inch of her naked figure.

 _“How long?”_ Elena yelped incredulously.

“Six months,” Reno answered without hesitation and Yuffie blinked in disbelief because _she_ knew it had been six months, but she didn’t realize that he had kept track as well.

 _“Who’s the unlucky woman?”_ Rude asked with a hint of marvel in his voice because Reno had never been able to keep a secret from him before.

Reno finally turned his eyes back on the screen, his lips curled into his trademark smirk, “Someone who drives me up the fuckin’ wall.” And he slammed the lid of the laptop closed and stalked towards Yuffie, a little predatorily, but all Yuffie could do was stand like a deer in the headlights.

When he stood in front of her, she could only peer up with a small grin on her face. “I drive you up the wall?” Yuffie asked.

“All the fuckin’ time,” he responded, lifting her up to the counter before kissing her until she could no longer think straight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I still find kissing/lemon scenes so bloody difficult to write.
> 
> As usual, comments and suggestions are very much appreciated!


	3. Day 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reno closed his eyes bitterly and spoke the next words in a chilly, dead tone, "Just get out."
> 
> "W-what?" All her anger seeped away.
> 
> "I told you to get out," he repeated himself callously.

_ “We are continuing to urge residents who are in Edge and Junon to stay home unless you have essential reasons to leave such as work, shopping for food or medical appointments. All schools will be closed for two week starting Monday and childcare will be made available for essential workers only. All non-essential businesses are closed. Infection cases have been climbing in both cities while lockdowns and other measures have been set in place and top experts on infectious diseases are hopeful that this will ‘flatten the curve’.” _

_ “Wutai has closed their borders for non-residents and non-citizens in response to the epidemic. Lord Godo has reiterated the need for Wutains abroad to return home and self-isolate for fourteen days.” _

_ “Costa Del Sol beaches are remaining open to both residents and visitors. However, please check the WRO website for social distancing guidelines for public beaches, including staying at home if you feel sick and maintaining a minimum six-feet social distance from people not in your group.” _

Reno had his elbows on his knees as he leaned into his clenched fists, his jaw tense. He snorted as he grabbed his coffee for a quick sip, “You’d think they’d realize it was a bad idea to keep the beaches open.”

“Well at least the old man seems to be doing  _ something _ right, for once,” Yuffie muttered to herself as she sat with her knees under her chin, leaning against the back of the couch with a frown on her face. “You’d think that after Sephiroth, Geostigma and Deepground, nothing would faze me anymore, but gawd, waking up this morning, I felt like I was in a dream...well, nightmare.”

He’s lips quirked up slightly as he glanced at her. “Reminds me of those shitty zombies you make me watch with you.”

She looked at him, her cheeks blushing a little from his intense gaze because she felt that something had  _ shifted _ in their relationship since a few nights ago. She chose to stick out her tongue before responding, “Admit it. You liked watching them.”

He didn’t deny it. “Well, guess we’re stuck for at least two more weeks.”

Yuffie sighed as she stood up on her tippy-toes, stretching her arms up as far as she could before falling backwards on the couch again. “I’m soooooooo booooooooored!” She gave another big sigh, falling sideways onto the couch and kicking up her feet onto his lap.

Reno’s head lifted off his fists to dodge her feet and he rested his hands on her ankles. “It’s only day five,  _ sweetheart _ . How are you gonna survive another fourteen?”

The last few days had been blissful as they dodged any questions sent their way. While both of them had admitted that they were somewhat in a relationship, they didn’t feel the need to disclose more information. And it seemed like their friends were a little too preoccupied to ask questions for the time being. Barely anyone called and their ‘working remotely’ hadn’t really included any work except for a few video calls and keeping an eye on their emails since neither of their regular work could really be done remotely.

“Fourteen if we’re lucky,” Yuffie grumbled, bending her neck backwards to look forlornly at the balcony door that was the only thing standing between her and her freedom. “How are you not bored?”

“Who says I’m not? I’m just not a whiny brat like you,” he said, pointing the remote control at the television to turn it off as he knocked her feet off of his knees and stood up to collect the dishes.

She groaned in complaint, her eyes fluttering shut and she debated on taking a nap at  _ nine in the morning _ . Luckily, the ringing of her phone brought a sudden surge of energy and she sat up to swipe her phone off the table. Frowning slightly at the video call coming from Tifa, and glad for  _ some _ entertainment, she glanced briefly at the wall behind her and decided that it was inconspicuous enough and accepted the call.

“It’s a video call!” she called out to the redhead as she brought the phone up to her eye-level. As soon as the connection connected, she chirped, “I haven’t been cut into cubes yet, Teef!”

“Ewwwww! Why would you be cut into cubes?” A face with large brown eyes sporting brown hair bangs stared at her from her screen.

Yuffie’s eyes widened. “Oh sh-crap! Hi Marley! I wasn’t expecting you.” She could hear Reno’s stifled snickers from the kitchen. “Is Denny with you too?”

A loud ear-piercing screech could be heard from Marlene as the screen shook from their end and Yuffie could see the wince from Reno from the corner of her eyes.

“Gimme!” Denzel could be heard.

“No! I had it first, Denzel!”

“I wanna say hi to Yuffie!”

“You can wait your turn to say hi! Tifaaaaaaaaaa! Denzel's being mean!”

The phone shook for a few more moments with shuffling noises until Tifa’s face was finally on the screen. “Hey. Can you tell it’s a little hectic here and the kids are a little stir crazy?” Even so, the kids’ voices could be heard screaming in the background and she could tell it was killing Reno’s patience with the glare he was sending her way.

Yuffie’s lips quirked up in a half pained smile. “I don’t envy you right now, Teef.” It was hard enough and boring enough to have to entertain herself and plan meals with just two adults. She couldn’t imagine how painful it would be to have to entertain two semi-independent children and have to make meals for them too.

Tifa could be heard shushing the two children as she walked to Cloud’s office to take a seat in his chair. “Goodness. The amount of screen time I’ve let them get away with...makes me feel like a bad parent. We’ve been trying to do some school work too, but wow...”

Yuffie giggled a little. “Give them all the screentime in the world. What could hurt?” Noticing the lack of mention of Cloud, she asked, “Spikey around?”

Tifa shook her head as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “He’s up in Icicle Village right now. All transportations are closed, so he’ll stay there for the time being and worse comes to worse, he’ll have Cid pick him up.”

They spent some time talking about how Icicle Village still hadn’t closed their tourist attractions and how most of the small villages seemed to be ignoring the virus. Tifa was naturally a worrywart and had apparently called everyone to check on them, including Elmyra who was residing in Kalm still.

And then suddenly, Marlene’s voice was heard and Yuffie instinctively shot her eyes towards the redhead who was now sitting beside her on his own phone. He cringed at the high-pitched voice. “Yuffieeeeeeee! We’re gonna go play video games in the room now. See you later!” And without seeing Marlene on the screen, Yuffie could hear Marlene’s feet bounding up the wooden stairs. Denzel’s voice could also be heard in the background saying goodbye to Yuffie.

Tifa’s ruby-wined eyes trailed Marlene and Denzel and when she seemed sure that they were out of hearing range, she gazed at her earnestly. “Yuffie...about the boyfriend…” she trailed off a little, unsure, her eyes studying the t-shirt on Yuffie’s small frame that clearly didn’t belong to her.

Yuffie stiffened, even though she really did expect this conversation because the martial artist didn’t know when to not worry. “I’m really fine, Teef.”

“I’m just worried, Yuffie. It seems like a bit of a rush, even for you. Are you sure you don’t want to go on a date with—”

“ _ Eep! _ ” Yuffie couldn’t press on the mute button fast enough as she watched Tifa’s lips moving soundlessly and without taking a glance at Reno, she pressed the phone to her chest. Hopping over the coffee table, she scrambled into the bedroom and closed the door without tripping once, which was quite the feat for her.

_ “Teef!” _ she hissed, unmuting the older woman. “He was  _ right beside me _ !” She cursed herself for not plugging in the headphones earlier.

“Oh! Crap! Sorry!” she squeaked, holding one of her hands to her mouth. “I  _ knew _ you were with him...I just...forgot.”

Yuffie sighed, “This whole video calling thing is gonna take some getting used to.” She didn’t look forward to the conversation she’d be having with Reno, if the last time she brought up the blind date was any indication. She blew her hair out of her face, a little frustrated. “I’m gonna go do some damage control, ‘kay Teef?”

Tifa squirmed a little from guilt. “You’ll be okay?”

Yuffie bit her lips, imagining the angry scowl on Reno’s face and finally nodded with a little uncertainty. “I hope so? I’ll text you later, ‘kay?” She hung up without waiting for an answer.

Half of her debated on staying in the room until she was sure Reno wasn’t as mad, but she also knew that if she let him stew in anger, he might get even angrier. And Yuffie, of all the things that she was, was no coward. She’d take the challenge straight on, even though all of her was screaming at her to  _ hide under the blanket _ .

The moment she left the safety confines of the bedroom, she could feel the  _ shift _ in the air. There was a heavy tension in the room and one look at Reno would have scared a lesser being away, but she was the next  _ Empress of Wutai _ , a three-time Savior of the goddamn Planet  _ and _ the Head of Espionage and Intelligence at the WRO and she was  _ not _ going to cower to this...extremely livid, very dangerous and really  _ handsome _ man.

The worst part of it was that he didn’t even  _ look _ angry. He was looking at her with measured indifference, which Yuffie knew was deceptive because he was angriest when he looked distant. He was on the couch, his eyes back on his phone, his feet propped up against the coffee table.

Yuffie decided it would be easiest to pretend to be ignorant and she put on her most playful grin on her face, bouncing back onto the couch and collapsed into her usual spot, swinging her legs up to place on his.

With a darkened scowl, he pushed her legs off.

“Hey!” Yuffie yelped and sat up, not really having expected that. “What was that for?”

“You know what the hell that was for,” Reno retorted, never once looking up from his phone.

Part of her knew that she was trying to do ‘damage control’, but another part of her, the impulsive part that got her in more trouble than it was worth, reared its ugly head. Frowning, she snapped back a response, “Don’t be such a fricken hypocrite, Mr. Casanova. You’ve got  _ no right _ .” 

On the nights she wasn’t over, she knew he was out and about, and while it bothered her, she knew it wasn’t her place to tell him what to do, so why the hell was he being such a jackass? Yuffie’s strength really wasn’t in damage control or comforting others—lashing out in anger was something she was much better at.

Reno snorted with a hint of irritation in his fierce eyes, “ _ You’re _ the one who keeps goin’ on dates.”

Yuffie stood up and flailed her arms around hotly as she raised her voice at him, “Don’t get pissy at  _ me _ for going on dates when you’re out every other night!”

“Yeah. To barhop,” Reno countered, the fury in his eyes were blazing now, “With Rude.” He stood up, his tall lanky body causing Yuffie to have to look up at him to keep eye contact but she stubbornly refused to give ground. “Like I’ve always fuckin’ done, you fuckin’  _ brat _ ,” he sneered cuttingly.

She hated how much taller he was, especially when he was using it to stare down at her and she could tell that he was revelling in that fact. “ _ Yeah?”  _ she spat out, “I know how  _ those _ end sometimes, so don’t you go and be high and mighty about it, you asshole!” She was so angry all she wanted to do was to smack that sneer off his face and the idea that he was with other women on the side brought her so much wrath that she wondered again  _ why she was still here. _

His lips were pressed thinly now, but his eyes were still intense with animosity. “Do you always like to jump to conclusions and make yourself look like an ass?” he scoffed.

She seethed, “Like hell I jump to conclusions! I’ve  _ seen _ you pick up chicks at Seventh Heaven! I know what the hell you d—”

And before she could finish her sentence, he had one arm wrapped around her roughly, pulling her closer to him, the other grasping the back of her head. Yuffie wondered for a brief second if he was actually going to kill her cause he was both mad enough and skilled enough to do it, but then he kissed her roughly and her instincts kicked in. She tried to kick him and wriggle out of his arms, and when that didn’t do anything, she bit his lip just hard enough to draw blood.

He drew back, his thumb reaching up to feel his lips. “What the  _ fuck _ is wrong w—”

“What the  _ fuck  _ is wrong with  _ you? _ ” she spluttered angrily, feeling like her chest was about to explode from the rage, her eyes tearing up with fury. “You can’t just  _ grab _ me like that and, and…”

Reno was still staring down at her, aquamarine orbs infuriated. “What the fuck do you want, Yuffie?” His left hand was clenched tightly to his side and she deliberated whether he was going to punch her, while his other hand ran through his hair exasperatingly.

“Me?” she fumed, glaring up at him, noticing how close they were standing but still refusing to back away. “You’re the one who started this! You don’t get to ask me what  _ I  _ want, you dick!” She gritted her teeth as she used the back of her wrist to wipe away the wetness at the corner of her eyes.

" _ I'm  _ the one who started this? Forgive me for being pissed off after gettin' accused of shit I didn't do," he growled out. 

Yuffie didn't think she had ever seen him so angry before, but it was too late for her to back down. Her pride wouldn’t allow it. "I didn't accuse you of anything that didn't happen!" she shouted, her voice sounding hoarse even to herself. All she could hear was her heart pounding in her ears, the sound growing louder with each passing second.

His blue-green eyes glowered at her coldly. "For fuck's sake, Yuff. I haven't been seein' anyone else for six months." He closed his eyes bitterly and spoke the next words in a chilly, dead tone, "Just get out."

"W-what?" All her anger seeped away as she heard his admission.

"I told you to get out," he repeated himself callously.

Eyes wide, she shook her head as she reached her hand out. "Reno, I'm so—" He dodged her touch and she could feel her heart drop to the ground.

"Fine," he said, his face carefully blank, "I'll leave. But you better be fuckin' gone when I'm back." 

Just as he was about to turn around, Yuffie slipped past him and grabbed both her weapon and knapsack by the door and she slid on her boots without tying them up. She swallowed thickly before braving herself to speak, making sure not to turn around and look back. "It's your place. I should go. I'll bring the clothes back sometime."

Before he could say anything else, she opened the door and walked through, closing the door gently behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh...so much for fluff lol. Why don't these things ever go the way I want them to? But honestly, being stuck at home can be difficult for even the most sane people.
> 
> As usual, comments and suggestions are very much appreciated!


	4. Day 5.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tifa sighed, “Her dad’s been giving her pressure to settle down.”
> 
> “Settle down? Isn’t she like, five?” Reno asked mockingly because Yuffie had certainly been acting like a childish brat this morning. 

She didn’t realize her hands were shaking until she had closed the door behind her and part of her wanted to just sit down with her back against the door. She leaned her shuriken against the wall as she bent down to tie up her boots, her mind replaying the conversation over and over in her head.

In all the times they had argued, and it happened more often than she would have liked to admit, it was the first time he had asked her to leave. And worst was, she knew she deserved it.

Her breath shuddered as she breathed out, and only then did she notice that her vision was blurry. She wiped her tears away angrily, mainly irritated at herself, and this was not a feeling that she felt often. Rarely did she ever do something so wrong and have to really face the consequences like this.

She could hear his voice in her head and see his eyes looking at her. They had stared at her with lust and anger, laughter and annoyance, but not once had she seen that look of indifference in them. And that hurt more than she had expected.

Gawd. Why did she care anyways? She had never planned it to be a long-term relationship—had never expected it to be anything but a one-night stand. So why did it matter that it was over?

_ For fuck's sake, Yuff. I haven't been seein' anyone else for six months. _

She didn’t know he hadn’t been seeing anyone. Why the hell wasn’t he?

She tried to push her thoughts away. She was never the type to reflect on her past mistakes, because what was the point? Strapping on her shuriken, and once away wiping the tears in her eyes because they were really making it impossible to see, she thought about what her choices would be now.

She could go to Tifa’s, explain what was happening and just cry herself to sleep. But she was too angry at Tifa, because as much as she knew it was her fault and if she hadn’t pushed Reno that hard, if Tifa hadn’t mentioned anything about dates, nothing would have been brought up.

Then there was the matter of returning to the WRO. As much as that seemed like the better choice, she knew she would have really limited freedom, and she really didn’t want to face Reeve either.

Her mind went to the bedroll that Cloud no doubt still kept at the abandoned church and the thought of spending the rest of lockdown by herself depressed her more than she had expected.

She needed somewhere to think.

* * *

He didn’t know what time it was.

The sun had come and gone, the room dark except for the city lights that radiated through the thin balcony daperies. The whiskey bottle sitting in front of him was empty and it would take too much effort to get another one.

His head was pounding and he was tired.

All he wanted to do was throw the bottle against the wall and find her so he could wring her fucking neck.

He’d always been satisfied with his string of one-night stands and never cared for more. His job didn’t allow for any serious type of relationships and he’d been fine with that because getting attached meant showing weakness. And he was careful to never sleep with anyone he would have to see again—until Yuffie.

In his defense, he had tried to look the other way, but he hadn’t been able to push her out of the confines of his mind since he’d seen her leap and plummet through the wreckage with her weapon flashing through the air, her short hair flying, her body twisting, her eyes dancing. Even so, he’d been careful to stay away because there was a flood of reasons why it would be a bad idea.

But in the end, he’d be unable to resist her girlish charm.

Worst was, she made him feel  _ things _ he had never imagined, never believed in. She made him  _ want _ things he never thought he deserved. And with her, he felt like he could have his version of a shot at a normal life, because she was formidable enough to defend herself against anything that life threw her way  _ and  _ his way, plus, she had more assassination attempts on her life than he ever had.

Which, now that he thought about it, was a really fucked up normal life.

But things were also different now—they were the  _ good _ guys, even though his mind couldn't help but scoff at that particular idea.

She fucking drove him crazy and he knew she would do it even before he had taken the plunge and kissed her in that seedy bar—he had still done it.

His phone buzzed unexpectedly, the light illuminating the entire room and he winced at the sudden glaring brightness, blinking a few times to readjust his eyes to the glare. The pressure he could feel in his temples was growing and the throbbing pain wasn’t going away.

He didn’t realize what he was hoping for until he felt a wave of disappointment wash over him when he read the name on the screen. Part of him didn’t want to bother picking up, another part of him curious as to why the barmaid was calling at ten at night.

He realized he’d been brooding for over half the day on the couch. He'd rather be at a bar drinking away, but the lockdown had made sure that it would be impossible to do that now.

"Whaddya want, Lockhart?" his voice was scratchier than he had intended, not having talked since  _ she _ had walked out the door.

He could see Tifa in his mind, tucking her hair behind her ears as she debated her next words. Not for the first time, he cursed himself for choosing to sleep with the crazy princess because his life could have been so much simpler if he chose someone less unhinged.

_ "Sorry Reno. Did I wake you?" _ Her soft voice was on the other hand and Reno could understand why his partner had fallen so hard for the martial artist. Why again, did he choose to sleep with the loudmouthed and brash ninja?

He used his palm to rub the tiredness away, "Nah. Sup?"

"Oh, okay. This might be an odd question, but have you seen Yuffie by any chance?" She sounded worried.

His fingers dug into his palm involuntarily and he kept his voice levelled, "Why? The brat disappear on you?"

"I said something that upset her earlier and she told me she'd message me back…" Tifa trailed off, her voice uncertain, "I've been calling but she hasn't responded. It's been over ten hours, which is really unlike her. She hasn't contacted anyone else either…"

It  _ was _ unlike her. On days she wasn't on missions, she was practically glued to her phone and usually responded within minutes. “Huh,” he said, “You check with ‘Lena?”

Tifa sighed, “Yes. I’ve even called Rude. You’re the last person I’m calling since I figure it wasn’t likely she’d be with you.” Reno wasn’t sure if he should have taken that last comment personally or not. “She’s such a stubborn one. I don’t even know if she’s hiding from me or Lord Godo at this point…” her voice tailed off again before she continued, “Thanks anyways. I’ve taken too much of your time—”

“What about her old man?” Reno cut in and he cringed at the sound of his own voice asking a question because he  _ shouldn’t care _ , but his interest was piqued and Yuffie rarely mentioned anything about Wutai in front of him.

“Huh?” Tifa responded with a hint of surprise in her voice. “Well…” She was hesitant. Reno didn’t fault her because as far as Tifa was concerned, Reno and Yuffie were acquaintances who were forced to work together occasionally, who took each and every opportunity to antagonize each other—which admittedly, still wasn’t far off from whatever secret relationship they had.

He ran his hands through his hair, frustrated, because he was stepping right into whatever he had gotten out of. But he couldn’t stop the gnawing unease in the pit of his stomach when he thought back to the last assassination attempt that Yuffie had laughed off after incurring a serious enough wound that required a curaga from him. “I’ll go look for her. Just tell me so I don’t say somethin’ to piss her off when I find her.”

There was a long pause before she spoke, “You sure, Reno?”

“Yea. It’s not like I can go barhoppin’ or anythin’,” he snorted as he stood up to turn on the lights in the living room. He needed to get dressed.

She laughed a little. “I owe you a few drinks when this is over. Thanks Reno. I would go, but the kids…” she sighed again. “I think she’s still at her new boyfriend’s place, but no one knows who it is and I just don’t have a good feeling about it. I worry she’s throwing herself at a man just because her dad’s been giving her pressure to settle down.”

He didn’t know about that—she had never mentioned anything about her father and never seemed interested in settling down. But what he did know for sure was that she wasn’t at her new boyfriend’s place. “Settle down? Isn’t she like, five?” he asked mockingly because she had certainly been acting like a childish brat this morning. “Where does she usually go?” He threw on his dress shirt and it felt strange getting dressed after having stayed at home in his casual clothes all week.

“Twenty-two,” Tifa corrected with a small laugh and Reno almost tripped over his pants from disbelief as he was pulling them on. He’d forgotten how young the brat was. “Yuffie goes where she wants to go… Reeve hasn’t seen her at the WRO and she’s obviously not been at the bar. The only other place I can think of is the church…”

“The one in Sector Five?” he asked, a sudden vivid memory of emerald eyes flashed by and vanished as quickly as it appeared.

“Mhmm. That’s the one.”

He didn’t know she went there often. It irked him more than he’d like to admit that there was so much he didn’t know about her. “I’ll let you know if I find her,”

“Thanks Reno. You’re a lifesaver.”

“I might kill her when I find her,” he retorted, although the urge to kiss her was just as strong, and he hung up before he could hear her response.

Even if he didn’t find her, a walk would be good to clear his mind. 

* * *

She wasn’t at the church. He had checked every pew, every dark corner of the back of the church and even climbed up the rafters to check even though there was no evidence of anyone being in the church for weeks. On top of that, he had pulled himself up to the roof to ensure that she wasn’t there because he knew she tended to like the open air.

The apartment key in his hand halted midway into the lock, his mind recalling images of her sitting on the roof of Seventh Heaven, on the roof of the WRO building, on the ledge of his balcony. He slid the key out, throwing the set into his pockets before returning back to the elevators.

It couldn’t hurt to check the roofs.

As soon as the elevator reached the rooftop, he stopped massaging his temple to take a look around. The roof was clear except for the random utility boxes that were scattered throughout the deck and no ninjas were found sitting dangerously close to the edge of the ledges. He felt that familiar, yet annoying feeling of disappointment overwhelm him and not only was he disappointed, he was also troubled.

It was uncharacteristic of her to be so irresponsible, to make  _ Tifa _ , of all people, worry.

The throbbing in his head had dulled, but it was still persistent as he fiddled with the phone in his pocket. Sighing to himself slightly, he gave up his pride and pulled his phone out to speed dial her. Luckily, the call went through and he wondered briefly if she was going to ignore the call like she had ignored Tifa’s.

And then he heard the faint sound of a phone vibrating.

Instantly on alert, his eyes scanned the roof once again to see if anything was out of place. He approached the buzzing quietly, and it led him towards a medium-sized generator by the darkest corner of the roof. His mind instantly imagined the worst possible scenario because he  _ had _ killed a man on the rooftop before and left his body to rot…

Only to have his eyes soften at the sight of her; her arms were hugging one of her knees, the other leg was curled underneath it—her head was leaning against the generator. She was still wearing his t-shirt and his oversized sweatpants that she had rolled up, her phone laying face down next to her. He reminded himself that he really should still be mad at her, but couldn’t find the energy to stay angry.

Pulling out his phone and sending the barmaid a quick text, he debated his next move. 

Finally, he placed her phone in his pocket and removed the weapon from beside her, strapping it to her bag before throwing it on his back. The next part was the trickiest: Was she going to hit him? He snuck one of his arms under both her knees while the other arm supported her back and lifted, wincing at the coldness of her skin. Her head fell against his shoulders and he was reminded of just how small she was and just how much danger this tiny frame packed in.

“Reno,” she whispered sleepily, her hands grasping the lapels of his suit as tightly as her frozen fingers could. “I’m sorry I was such a bitch.”

He couldn’t contain the small chuckle at the way she apologized. “I’m here cause Lockhart was worried. I’m still pissed at you, brat."

“Teef? Why?” She didn’t bother hopping out of his arms as she leaned into him, pushing her face into the hollow of his neck and breathing in deeply.

Reno couldn’t help but feel secretly pleased that she had missed him. “You’ve been MIA for over twelve hours,” he kept his voice even, not wanting her to think that he, too, had been concerned for her well-being.

“Oh, shit,” she murmured, “She’s gonna kill me.”

“I’ve got dibs on that,” he muttered, feeling a brief flash of anger before he brushed it away, pressing the button for the elevator.

“Did you…” she trailed off slightly before continuing, “Does she…”

“Know?” he finished for her as he stepped in with her, his arms still holding onto her tightly. “No. She called everyone else in Edge. I was the last on the list,” he uttered with a scoff.

Yuffie giggled slightly before shivering, her face still pressed up against his neck. “‘m cold.”

He sighed, shifting her weight in his arms before looking down at the top of her head. “Let’s get you in the shower. You’re fuckin’ freezing.”

Her hazel eyes peered up at him through her long, thick lashes, her eyes gleaming hopefully. “Join me?”

He didn’t think he could ever say no to those eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, comments and suggestions are very much appreciated!


	5. Day 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Gawd,” Yuffie muttered, almost to herself, “For a turkey, you can be so dense…” Then she added with a touch of dryness, “Thought it was just a chocobo thing, but I guess it’s a bird thing to be so dumb.”
> 
> Reno scowled disgruntledly, “Are you seriously comparin’ me to Strife?”

Her bare feet made barely any noise as she swung herself on the railings of his balcony, her legs dangling precariously off the sides as she studied the nearly empty streets below her. It was strange seeing Edge such a tranquil city. In all the years she had lived here, it had been a bustling area with immense crowds and she had loved that about it because it allowed her to blend in that much easier.

_ “And where are you now? Did Reno give you a hard time?” _

It was those questions that brought Yuffie back from her thoughts as she played with her headphone cord that she had remembered to plug in this time. “I’m back at my boyfriend’s,” Yuffie responded truthfully as she took a quick glance back to the redhead who was pouring cream into the mugs. “And Reno’s Reno… He’s still an asshole.”

She could hear Tifa’s sigh even though it was barely audible through the phone,  _ “He went out looking for you. During a pandemic. I wonder...” _

“Mhmm,” Yuffie responded, cutting off the older woman’s thoughts, her face flushing when she recalled the way he held her in his arms. It was...different, and not what she had expected from him. And the fact that he hadn’t been with any other woman for six months still boggled her mind. What did that mean? "He must have been reaaaaaaaaally bored with all the bars closed down,” she added with a snicker.

_ “Look Yuffie,” _ Tifa said seriously, and Yuffie knew she was going to bring up the boyfriend thing again because she could hear the worry in her voice and Yuffie regretted sharing with her about Godo’s plan.  _ “About the boyfriend thing…” _ she trailed off, uncertain.

“I’m not jumping in a random relationship just to appease Godo, Teef,” Yuffie reassured her, “Because Godo would flip out about this one. But I genuinely like him, gawd knows why. Just let me figure things out for now, ‘kay?” Of all the men in her life, Reno would have been the one that Godo would be the least pleased about. Vincent might have had a better chance with her old man, even with him being an immortal vampire and everything.

There was a long pause before Tifa spoke again, _ “I didn’t realize you were serious with this one.” _

Yuffie hummed, “Neither did I.”

* * *

Before they knew it, the two weeks had passed and school closures in Edge and Junon had both been extended.

The uncertainty of the world reminded Yuffie of the weeks following the Meteor summoning, when you could see it slowly approaching in the sky in silent horror, helpless. It felt similar now, with numbers of infections and deaths skyrocketing in certain cities or villages and it reminded her of how short life really was and how powerless she really was.

Except instead of a colossal rock from outer space hanging ominously in the sky, it was something that was so small that could only be seen with a microscope.

_ Gawd. _

Feeling unusually down from just listening to the news, she stood up suddenly, catching the curious gaze of Reno, before picking up the empty dishes and mugs and setting them into the dishwasher.

The last two weeks had been a little strange between them because they had avoided discussing their dispute. Her, because she was mainly ashamed of herself for being such a childish idiot and making assumptions. But he had also avoided talking about it, although he could very easily have brought it up multiple times to remind her what an ass she had been.

Honestly, they were both just terrible at communicating.

“Hey.” Reno’s gentle hold on her wrist broke her train of thought. “You look like you’re about to break your brain.” His voice was teasing, but she could hear the slight concern in his voice.

She thought back to the conversation she had with Tifa after that argument with Reno and realized that while she hadn’t intended for this relationship to be serious to start with, it really seemed to be going that way. It had never been her intention to be in a serious relationship, regardless of how much Godo had been pushing for it—while also threatening an arranged marriage—and with Reno, no less.

Now, how to approach it?

_ For fuck's sake, Yuff. I haven't been seein' anyone else for six months. _

Every time her brain remembered those words, her heart fluttered because she realized it was as close to an admission from Reno she was ever going to get. But Yuffie was nothing but stubborn and the fact their relationship was in limbo didn’t sit well with her.

She hated dilly-dallying, shilly-shallying… whatever the hell that meant.

Blinking slightly and realizing she still hadn’t responded to his question, she vaulted herself up and sat on the countertop facing Reno as this gave her an extra few inches… and yet, she somehow  _ still  _ had to look up into his eyes. “How tall  _ are  _ you?” she asked, her eyebrows drawn together, almost a little bit offended at her own height or lack thereof.

“Significantly taller than you, short stuff,” he chuckled out, seemingly amused by her indignant expression.

He was in a good mood this morning and she wondered briefly if it was the best time to talk about this, but Yuffie was impulsive and impatient and she just wanted to get it over with. Even so, when the words finally left her lips, she felt a little regretful because she could already foresee his reaction.

She held his hands in hers. “You said you haven’t been seeing anyone else for six month.”

His eyes turned dark before she had even completed her sentence. “Drop it,” he muttered warningly. It was clear that he was also revisiting their argument from two weeks ago.

“No,” she insisted, her hands clamping down on his because he was pulling away. “Tifa’s been setting me up on dates cause she knows Godo’s been pressuring me to settle down. I should’ve told her from the start to stop since I wasn’t interested in anyone else, okay?”

His brows furrowed slightly, somewhat confused, the anger in his eyes gone. “Sure? The hell does that have to do—”

“Gawd,” she muttered, almost to herself, “For a turkey, you can be so dense…” Then she added with a touch of dryness, “Thought it was just a chocobo thing, but I guess it’s a bird thing to be so dumb.”

Reno scowled disgruntledly, “Are you seriously comparin’ me to Strife?”

She cackled with laughter, her eyes crinkling with mirth, “Of all the things I’ve said,  _ that’s  _ what you’re stuck on?” She unlaced her hands from his and noticed with surprise that they were trembling slightly from nervousness. Cupping his face with her hands, her heart pounding, she flashed him the biggest grin she could muster, “I  _ like  _ you, Reno. Okay?”

It took him a few moments to grasp the full meaning of her words, but when he finally understood what she meant, his green eyes burned brightly as he stared at her, the corners of his mouth quirking slightly, “Yeah.”

* * *

As she sat criss-crossed on the floor of the balcony with the setting sun casting a deep crimson glow over the city, she couldn’t help the smile from forming on her face. There was something satisfying and calming about getting soil under her nails and planting something, even though with Yuffie’s black thumb, it really wasn’t likely that anything  _ would _ grow.

With the additional time she had with the lockdown and the lack of reporting to work she needed to do, she had scoured the internet for any new hobbies she could potentially pick up. Wutai was huge on agriculture as they had to grow their own crops to survive although Yuffie had never been interested in that particular aspect of the country. What piqued her curiosity about gardening the first time was actually being inside the peaceful church that her dear friend had once grown lilies in. She remembered being enthralled by the flowers when she had visited the church after  _ she _ had left them.

So when gardening was one of the internet’s recommended hobbies to pick up, she had, without much hesitation, ordered a bunch of pots, soil, small shovels and whatever items were necessary from the internet. Yuffie had no interest in planting flowers, because honestly, you couldn’t eat them and it was such a waste to just  _ look _ at them, so she had ordered some tomato and strawberry seeds because those were supposedly one of the easier plants to grow.

She couldn’t stop her mind from wandering back to what happened earlier in the morning as she scooped soil into each individual pot. The blush on her face darkened and she thanked Leviathan that her back was facing the balcony door because she was sure Reno would comment, or worse, just stare at her with that knowing smirk on his face.

The amount of men that Yuffie had taken to bed could be counted with one hand. The first one had been a drunken mistake when she had been in Wutai during the events of Geostigma with an acquaintance that she had known for years. Honestly, she had been so inebriated that she hadn’t remembered much at all—whatever had happened that night had made sure that they could no longer be on speaking terms anymore because it had been  _ so awkward _ after. The second one had been someone from the WRO who had gotten the guts to ask her out after the events of Deepground. They had gone on a few dates before anything serious had happened, and the sex had been so lackluster that they had both agreed to call it quits soon after.

...And then there was Reno, who had unexpectedly, after months of banter, leaned over the table, tilted her chin towards him before kissing her till she was breathless.

Sleeping with Reno had been obscenely amazing and she remembered feeling that hollow pit in her stomach when it had ended the first time because she wasn’t sure if she’d ever experienced that again. He was an attentive lover, aware of her needs and wants even before she had to utter the words and it had always been passionate and intense and  _ phenomenal _ . Not that she had ever told him that cause his ego didn't need more stroking, but she didn’t even think it was possible for it to be better.

But then he had whisked her away between the bedsheets after her little confession earlier this morning and just thinking about it made her breath stagger, her heart skip a beat and ache. She couldn’t forget the way his eyes had trailed her body in reverence, the way his lips had gazed hers with tenderness, the way their bodies intertwined lovingly.

Just pondering about the way he had looked at her, his eyes more intensely bright than she had ever seen, made her feel her stomach flip flop.

The sudden sound of the screen door opening scared her out of her thoughts as she screeched and almost fell backwards ungracefully.

“Dinner’s almost ready,” he announced from behind her, and even then, she could hear the laughter in his voice.

She shot a glare at him over her shoulder before tugging on his hand and pulling him down beside her. “Help me finish up.”

Reno shook his head as he pulled his hand back, grimacing from the brown marks on his hands. “No thanks. I’m good,” he muttered, brushing off the bits of soil that had transferred on him.

“Is Reno of the Turks afraid of a little dirt?” Yuffie teased with a grin, “I’ll do the laundry after. C’mon. The dirtiest part of the job is done already. I just need to put the seeds in the little pots.” She handed him two little packets of seeds, “Here, you can have the easy job. Just throw a couple in each hole I make?”

Surprisingly, he obeyed as he grabbed the packets and studied the pictures on them. “You think they’re gonna grow?”

Yuffie shrugged a bit as she continued to poke holes into the soil. “Probably not. But who knows.”

They worked in relative silence for the next few minutes, Yuffie poking the holes and Reno dropping a seed or two in each before Yuffie covered them in soil. When they were finally done and Reno had returned to finishing up dinner, Yuffie watered each of the pots, a gratified grin on her face.

“Don’t disappoint me,” she murmured affectionately to the rows of black pots sitting neatly at the foot of the railing.

She wondered briefly if this was how satisfied her friend felt, planting flowers in the broken floorboards of the abandoned Sector Five church. Maybe if these tomatoes and strawberries grew, she would try her hand in planting some white and yellow lilies. She missed the sight of them.

* * *

They had tried to stay out of each other's way when it was time for work video calls. Unfortunately for Reno, Yuffie tended to get bored inevitably. Even listening in on his work calls was boring because they never talked about anything remotely interesting. Lately, most of the calls were usually about the virus infections and what the WRO had been doing behind the scenes and Yuffie already had inside information regarding that...not that she really cared. Most of it was completely out of her field of interest.

As such, Yuffie had to make things interesting for  _ herself _ and she made sure to keep her head down as she rinsed the dishes clean before throwing them in the dishwasher. She knew that if Reno caught sight of her face, he'd get suspicious right away. She watched from the corner of her eyes as he set up the laptop in the living room, ducking her head slightly when he gazed back at her.

"I'm startin' now," he grunted, a little annoyed this meeting was taking place after dinner.

Yuffie hummed in response, her lips twitching involuntarily upwards as she looked forward to his response.

"Why the  _ fuck _ am I a potato?" he asked, frowning, his eyes glaring towards the ninja. "Did you do this?"

Loud laughter could be heard coming from Reno's laptop speakers.

"Nah uh," she denied quietly, shooting an impish grin his way.

_ "Oh my  _ god." Elena's uproarious laughter could be heard.  _ "Is this your girlfriend's doing? I love her!" _

Yuffie's eyes sparkled with unadulterated amusement as she whispered just loud enough for Reno to hear, "You hear that, Mr. Potato? Your friends  _ love _ me."

"I like this new look on you, Reno," Rufus said in his usual tone with just a hint of delight in his voice.

"Don't encourage her, 'Lena. Boss," Reno muttered, trying desperately to figure out how to unpotato himself. "She's enough trouble as it is. You," he motioned her over with his index finger, "Help me fix this."

Yuffie wiped her hands dry on the kitchen towel and gave him an apologetic face as she lied in a hushed tone, "Gotta take a poop! When you gotta go, you gotta go, y’know?" And then she gave a majestic bow and twirled away into the bedroom, making sure to wave jovially before shutting the door closed.

When his meeting ended over forty minutes later, he opened the door and leaned his body against the doorframe with his arms crossed, studying the lithe ninja who was sprawled out happily on the bed with her phone in her face. 

"I had to endure the entire meetin’ as a potato." 

She couldn't stop the gleeful chortle, "Did they enjoy the show?" She jumped up from the bed to approach him, almost tripping and falling over her own feet before he caught her in his arms. She reached up and trailed a few kisses on his jawline before pulling him down for a playful kiss.

"You realize this means war, right?" he asked, raising one of his eyebrows in question, one of his hands reaching up to cup her cheek.

Her eyes gleamed impishly as she accepted the challenge. "I'm counting on it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was what I initially had in mind when I first started this fic… I'm just five chapters behind.
> 
> As usual, comments and suggestions are very much appreciated!


	6. Day 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I. Can’t. Believe,” Yuffie said each word between her laughter, “You stripped for my friends.”
> 
> “I didn’t strip for them,” Reno muttered, a light blush on his cheekbones.
> 
> “Oh my gawd, Reno. Are you blushing?” she guffawed loudly.

“Come, come, come!” Yuffie squealed giddily as she dragged Reno towards the balcony, before he had fully exited the bathroom, before he had completely dried his hair with his towel, before his  _ first sip of morning coffee _ .

“Haven’t had my coffee yet, brat,” he grunted resentfully, but let himself be hauled away anyways, knowing that the petite woman was staggeringly strong. “Whaddya want?”

She glanced back at him, eyes twinkling and he felt his breath catch in his throat. “You know just as well as I do that you love me too much to kill me, even if I talk to you before your first sip of coffee,” she said as she shot him a confident smirk.

He found he had no snappy retort and blamed it on the fact that he hadn’t had his coffee yet—on the other hand, he wasn't sure she was wrong. The last week and a half, he had woken up to her chatter, her not having even bothered to wait for him to drink his coffee and he found that he had actually enjoyed her filling up the silence of the apartment during their morning routine.

She had led him all the way past the living room and into the balcony that was now filled with pots and a number of tools that she hadn’t touched for days. Noting quietly to himself that she had been slowly filling up his admittedly empty apartment with her stuff that she had been buying online, he was surprised to find that he didn't even care all that much.

“Look!” she exclaimed proudly, bending forwards towards the pot,  _ his _ shirt riding up and exposing the bottom half of her backside, her bright orange cotton panties visible.

His mouth went dry and he had to tear his eyes away from the sight as he readjusted his sweatpants carefully. “What?” his voice was hoarser than he had intended. He didn’t know what it was about the loudmouthed, brash and lanky ninja that sent his blood roaring in his ears...and other places. The amount of times he wanted to throw her into bed, against the wall, on top of the couch or anywhere each day was downright embarrassing and it reminded him of his younger years.

“Reeeeeeeeno,” she whined with a pout, looking back at him over her shoulder. “Look, look, look!’

He took a step closer, leaning forward while his arms wrapped around her, his hands grazing her exposed midriff teasingly. “What am I lookin’ at?” 

Her breath hitched as his fingers came in contact with her skin and he smirked smugly.

“That,” she responded, almost neutrally, except he could see the pink tint on her cheeks. She was pointing to a pot with her finger.

His eyes widened slightly. “Is that…?”

“Tomato plant.” she grinned delightfully.

“You sure it’s not a weed or somethin’?” he asked, his eyes studying the greenery, unconvinced.

Yuffie laughed, “On the balcony sixteen stories high? In Edge? What weed? There isn’t any grass for as far as the eye can see!” She clasped her hands childishly together as she bounced around the balcony giddily, studying each pot carefully and squealing whenever she saw a small seedling. “We could be eating fresh tomatoes off the vines in two months if all goes well!”

His fingers brushed against a small leaf. “I’m impressed, Yuff.”

“Me too!” she responded excitedly, “I’ve never tried to grow anything before. I hope the strawberries do well too!” She hummed, her cheeks glowing as she looked at the plant with a small smile. “I’m gonna try lilies next. I think Elmyra reserves some seeds after every season. I’ll get Teef to ask.”

Yuffie had never once mentioned to him of the young woman who had lost her life too soon, but he knew the loss must have cut deep. He knew she had witnessed it first-hand and that she was only sixteen at the time. It was hard to believe that over half a decade had already flown by since the Meteor hung over their heads like a dead sentence.

“When some of the restrictions are lifted, we can go for a day trip,” he offered. It would be nice to see how the older woman was doing, even though they had never gotten along because he had technically been trying to capture her daughter all those years.

“Maybe we can bring Marley as a buffer,” Yuffie giggled slightly. “I’m not sure Elmyra would welcome you into her home so nicely.”

Reno scoffed, “I was the perfect gentleman.” Then he added, “She was a scary lady.”

“She scares me a little too,” she admitted with a smile.

* * *

Yuffie glanced at Reno, who was dealing with dinner, with absolute distrust. Reeve had called a meeting for tonight the other day with everyone in AVALANCHE just to see how everyone was doing and to also update the group regarding any additional internal WRO information. Since Reno had found out about the meeting, she was sure he had been plotting because he kept swaggering around with that sly smirk.

She had triple checked all the settings for the video calls to ensure that Reno hadn’t managed to change her into a potato or a pineapple or a pickle. She had even checked the background settings because at one point, Reno had joined a conference call with a wallpaper of the Honeybee Inn background. Yuffie didn’t think she had ever seen Reno so flustered before and it had taken him a good few minutes of fumbling around to figure out how to change the background back.

Debating for a moment whether she really wanted to use his work laptop to join the call because he would totally expect that, she succumbed to the idea anyways. She wasn't fond of having to hold up her phone for a video call for gawd knows how long. Checking the settings one last time, hoping Reno hadn't found anything to prank her with since he wasn't quite as tech-savvy as her, she decided that she would be safe.

For now.

“I’m joining the call!” she called to him, feeling a sudden surge of dread. He had to have been planning something. There was no way he would be letting such a good opportunity go to waste, especially since this was the first video call for her since the lockdown started a month ago.

But since it was with the entire group, maybe he was turkeying out? He didn’t seem more smug than usual…

“Yeah, yeah.” He nodded back, his face never turning towards her as he was cooking something on the stove.

Maybe he was too busy to care.

Before she could lose her nerves, she pressed the ‘join’ button, reminding herself that even  _ if _ a prank was being played on her, she wasn’t allowed to disconnect from the video chat unless absolutely necessary. That had been one of the rules they had set for the pranks. At the time, Yuffie had enjoyed the rule since that meant Reno had to sit through entire meetings being mocked by his own peers, but now that it came to her turn…

Her attention wavered from the prank as she saw that Reeve, Tifa and Cloud had already joined the chat. “Heeeey Teef, Reeve—Oh my  _ gawd _ , Spikey! Are you snowboarding?!”

Cloud waved at Yuffie from his phone, a small smile on his face. He looked well-rested. Happy. “Just finished,” he responded, “What’s this I hear about a boyfriend?”

Her eyes drifted back towards Reno who was standing entirely too still for her liking. Still, he hadn’t approached and it seemed like the video call was as normal as can be. Yuffie waved the question away. “Ah… Let’s not talk about  _ him _ . He’s eavesdropping and I don’t need to stroke his ego.”

Before Cloud could respond, Vincent and Shelke had joined from the WRO staff room, Cid and Shera from the comfort of their home, Barret who had apparently been in Edge since the beginning of week two of lockdown and also Nanaki who was stuck in Cosmo Canyon. Yuffie relaxed against the couch, basking in the chatter of her friends, throwing in jokes and banter every once in a while. She couldn’t help but grin at the racket, not realizing how much she had missed her chosen family until this very moment.

It wasn’t until she was about to stand up and grab a beer from the fridge that she noticed the redhead missing from the kitchen. Instantly wary, she wondered what he was up to, but relaxed slightly when she caught sight of the closed bedroom door. Excusing herself for a moment, she hopped over to the fridge and brought back an opened beer to the living room. She continued to savour it and when the chatter died down, Reeve began to share information regarding the infection that wasn’t quite public knowledge yet. Yuffie allowed her thoughts to wander, giving nods and hums at the right moments, but wondered not for the first time where Reno was. It wasn’t like him to pass up a perfect opportunity to prank her.

She realized she had spoken too soon to herself when the bedroom door opened… Because Reno’s face appeared with his red hair carefully hidden under a balaclava and he was wearing a dark half-buttoned dress shirt that she had never seen before and a pair of jeans she didn’t realize he owned.

“I…” she cut Reeve off suddenly, “I am  _ so sorry _ for what's about to happen.” Yuffie had no idea what Reno had been planning to do, but it was obvious he had dressed up for this and had planned ahead.

Reeve responded with a confused ‘huh’ before Reno appeared behind the couch and started  _ dancing _ .

Yuffie couldn’t even turn around and she could only stare mortifyingly at the screen between her fingers, her eyes wide and her face so, so red. Where did he learn how to dance like  _ that?  _ Luckily, his head was cut off by the camera angle because it would look so much stranger with a ski mask otherwise.

There was an uncomfortable silence before Shera hooted with laughter. She could hear Cid and Barret cursing while Cloud had a look of complete bafflement on his face. Vincent was unsurprisingly unaffected, although Shelke was clearly intrigued. Nanaki had merely looked away from the screen, seeming to be reading a book off to the side while Reeve had an embarrassed and thoughtful look on his face.

“Yuffie...is that your boyfriend…  _ strip dancing _ ?” Tifa asked as she giggled a little awkwardly, peering through her fingers as well.

_ “Oh my gawd,” _ Yuffie flushed as she caught sight that Reno was, indeed, sensually unclasping each button slowly and when it was completely buttoned, he ripped his shirt off his body. A high-pitched squeal escaped Yuffie's mouth involuntarily and it was only then that she turned around, partly to turn away from the camera to hide her complete _ embarrassment.  _ Kneeling on the sofa with her stomach pressed against the back of the couch, she screeched, “Are you  _ done _ flashing my friends? Also, where did you learn to dance like that? You work at a strip club before?”

Reno’s eyes were glowing with amusement and he was about to respond with his usual snark when he stopped himself. They had begun to enjoy the privacy of their relationship since they were both sure they would get a lot more hounding once they found out who each of them were dating. Reno would probably be receiving death threats daily—especially after this stunt.

Yuffie turned back around to the laptop briefly, “I gotta go, sorry! See you soon and I’ll pay for bleach if you need it to bleach your eyes tonight!” She slammed the laptop lid shut.

He threw a disarming grin her way, “Pretty sure you lose if you discon—”

“You,” she cut him off, her eyes glinting and her cheeks rosy, “Bedroom. Now.”

He pulled his balaclava off his head, his fingers tilting her chin up before his lips captured hers hungrily. “Does that turn you on, Yuff?”

She closed her eyes as her breath shuddered unevenly. “Did you work as a stripper before, Reno?” When she opened her eyes back up again, there was a slight twinkle of mischief.

“There’s lots of things you learn on the job as a Turk, princess.”

“Bedroom. Now,” she repeated demandingly.

“Nah uh,” he teased, his lip quirked up smugly, “Only if you admit you liked the strip dance.”

“I’m mostly annoyed you decided to strip in front of my friends,” She swallowed thickly, a teasing gleam in her eyes, “But I’m willing to overlook that if we skip dinner to have sex with you in the bedroom. Are you declining?” Yuffie  _ never _ turned away food. Without waiting for his response, she launched herself off the couch and into his arms, burying her face into the crook of his neck and breathed him in, her legs wrapped around his core.

He regained his footing, just barely, before snaking his arms around her. “How lucky of me that you’re choosing me over food,” he muttered sarcastically, but carried her to the bedroom hurriedly before she changed her mind nonetheless.

When they left their bedroom much later, both completely sated, their dinner was completely cold but neither of them minded anyways. They brought the serving bowl of mac and cheese to the coffee table and scooped up a couple of portions in their bowls before turning on the television to pick whatever movie caught their fancy.

Yuffie, scrolling through her phone as she chewed, furrowed her eyebrows as she talked with her mouth full, “I think Cat-boy’s onto us.”

“Whaddya mean?” he scrolled through the list of action movies.

_ “It was a pleasure meeting your boyfriend, Yuffie. I will need a year’s worth of bleach to counteract the damage done to my eyes. It is interesting to note that Reno has also started dating a woman and I’ve been told they like to prank each other. You don’t happen to know who that woman is, right? Also, you looked a little feverish in the call, so you might want to think about getting some rest. Enjoy the rest of your evening,”  _ she read out the text message, giggling.

Yuffie toppled herself sideways, her head onto Reno’s lap as she continued to chortle. “I. Can’t. Believe,” she said each word between her laughter, “You  _ stripped  _ for my friends.”

“I didn’t strip  _ for _ them,” Reno muttered, a light blush on his cheekbones.

“Oh my  _ gawd _ , Reno. Are you  _ blushing _ ?” she guffawed loudly, clutching at her sides as she looked up at his face. “Did you see Cloud’s face? He was so confused! If I wasn’t so sure he liked women, I would’ve thought—”

He grabbed a throw pillow from the couch and tried to smother her with it.

Even then, her peals of cackles didn’t stop. “And Teef!” She pushed the pillow away and took a deep breath before talking again, “She was so horrified she couldn’t look away!”

When Yuffie finally settled her giggles much later with their movie playing, the mac and cheese eaten, she whipped her phone out to type a quick message to Reeve.

_ “Ewwwww! Are u implying what I think ur implying? What’s wrong with u, Reeve? Also, I did enjoy my evening  _ **_very much_ ** _. *hint**hint**nudge**nudge**wink**wink*” _

“You’re gonna send him to an early grave,” Reno chuckled as he peered over to her screen.

“He’s bound to go when he realizes who the stripper is anyways,” Yuffie added with a snicker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where Reno strip dances and I can't stop giggling every time I proofread.
> 
> As usual, comments and suggestions are very much appreciated!


	7. Day 45

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “...Is that a suit jacket on the chair behind you?” Pausing a moment, Tifa clarified herself, “A navy suit jacket?”
> 
> There was a moment of absolute silence before Yuffie squealed, “Eeeeeeeeeeeeep!”
> 
> “Oh my god,” Tifa murmured, “Don’t tell me… Was that Reno stripping?!”

Yuffie groaned as she tried for the fifth time that week to order groceries online. Almost tempted to slam the laptop lid down, she turned on the news channel instead, wondering what sort of depressing news there would be this morning.

“Still no luck?” Reno asked from the kitchen as he started the coffee machine.

Her head whipped around to stare at his back, surprised that he was the first to initiate a conversation before the coffee was finished. She couldn’t help the corners of her lips from lifting up even if she was still bloody frustrated still.

“No,” she replied, “I’ve tried doing the in-store pick-up option, but their schedule is full up till next week. I was even willing to pay a hundred gil for them to deliver it, but I think everyone’s going that route…” she sighed, shutting the lid gently and throwing herself backwards into the couch. “I think we’re gonna have to leave and get some groceries today. We’re running low.”

The soft clanks of the mugs being set on the table brought her attention back to the television.

“We’ll go after breakfast,” Reno offered.

_ “Rufus Shinra has announced that they will spend three billion gil to help families and businesses struggling financially through the pandemic, as unprecedented job losses and company shutdowns rattle the economy. Roughly half of the money will be allocated for economic recovery after the outbreak ends.” _

_ “WRO Health officials announced that Edge may ease some restrictions early next month if active cases and hospitalizations continue to fall. Edge has so far succeeded in reducing the number of cases and avoided overwhelming the health-care systems.” _

“Wow. Good news,” Yuffie murmured, a little surprised. It had been a month of depressing reporting, with news of outbreaks in either prisons, hospitals, care homes or poultry facilities. She took a bite of her toast, keeping half an ear on the news as her mind ran through what they had to get at the store. 

“I’m guessin’ we’ll buy quite a bit. We’ll take the car?” Reno asked, turning off the television.

It was only then that Yuffie had realized she had finished both her coffee and toast. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. I’ve got the shopping list on the front door. You wanna go see if you need to add anything and I’ll get the dishes done?” Before he could respond, she sprung up from her seat and started gathering the dishes, rinsing them briefly before throwing them in the dishwasher.

By the time she was at the front door, dressed to go out, Reno had scribbled a few more items on the list, a blue disposable surgical mask in each hand.

She made a small whining voice in her throat as she laced up her boots. “Do we have to?”

“Accordin’ to ‘Lena, yes. Stops the spread if everyone wears it,” Reno responded, a little amused at her childish behaviour over a mask.

“I got it,” Yuffie responded glumly as she grabbed a mask from his hands and slapped it on her face, careful to pinch the metal band against her nose. “Omigawd this totally restricts my breathing,” she complained.

“You’re such a drama queen, princess.” He placed his mask on, and even with it covering his face, Yuffie could see the smirk in his eyes.

She stuck her tongue out, then surprised herself when she licked the mask, made a disgusted face, and sighed. “All right, Turkey. Let’s just go. I feel like I can barely talk with this thing on.”

“Maybe it’ll shut you up for once.”

“You’re such a jerk. Be nice to me. Don't forget I'm cutting your hair once we're back."

"Aw shit."

* * *

“Do you even know what the  _ fuck _ you’re doing?” he practically snarled as he glared at her through the mirror, sitting on a kitchen stool they had dragged into the bathroom. He had no idea how she had managed to talk him into this because this must be the worst idea he had ever agreed on.

“Nope,” she admitted with a grin as she kissed his temple jovially. “But I’ve watched like, three videos online,” she laughed with just a hint of nervousness in her voice. When he only stared at her quietly, studying her face, she shrugged. “You can let me do it or suck it up until restrictions are lifted. But you’ve been bitching about your hair for the past week, so you need to stop complaining if you won’t let me do it.” She held up the shiny new hair clippers she had ordered online with her tongue out. “So?”

“Fuck,” he grunted and then slouched down in the chair in defeat. “Just do it.”

She ran her fingers through his hair tenderly, “Don’t worry. I really like your hair. Wouldn’t dream about messing it up!” Then she added in a quieter tone, “Not on purpose anyways, haha.” After a couple of seconds, she took a deep breath as she pushed her unease away. “You won’t kill me if I mess it up, right? You really have such pretty hair.”

His eyes glanced up to meet hers through the reflection. “Does that mean I get to cut yours?”

“Oh, hell no,” she muttered, tucking her lengthening hair behind her ear. “I’m just gonna let it grow and tie it up! Now, last warning before I attempt to cut your hair, ‘kay?”

He closed his eyes for what seemed like hours, hearing the small ‘eep!’ and ‘shit!’ and he felt his palms sweat. His head was definitely feeling lighter now, but he noted with relief that the weight of his ponytail was still at the nape of his neck. It wasn’t unusual for Reno to go to his hairdresser every two to three weeks to get his hair trimmed because it was the only way to keep his personable hairstyle, but he hadn’t stepped foot into that place for almost two months and it was getting  _ long _ .

He could feel the trimmer run through his mane and every time it came close to the back of his neck, he couldn’t help but tense up and cringe. Yuffie’s constant curses and giggles didn’t help at all.

“Well,” Yuffie finally said, “It’s not  _ terrible _ .” She sounded a little proud of her work.

Hesitantly, he opened his eyes to take a look and was surprised when it wasn’t as awful as he had imagined. It was definitely not as neat as his hairstylist’s work, but it  _ was _ her first time, and it did feel a lot lighter. “At least you didn’t chop my ponytail off,” he spoke, barely audibly, relieved.

“I thought about it,” she teased, “But I really didn’t want to get murdered. And I really like tangling my hair into it.” She wriggled her eyebrows at him.

“I need a shower,” he muttered, attempting to rub the hair off his neck that was causing incessant itching as he turned on the shower.

“You’re in charge of cleaning up too.” Yuffie grinned, motioning at the millions of small hairs on the ground. “Have f—  _ Eep! Renoooooooooo! _ I’m all wet!”

He had thrown her in the shower.

* * *

Legs swinging, body swaying and  _ so, so bored _ on the balcony railing, she twirled the long, thin cord with her fingers, humming and nodding at the appropriate times. Tifa must have been so fed up from the lockdown because while Yuffie usually dominated the majority of their conversations, Tifa had been talking non-stop for almost ten minutes. At first, she had praised the view behind her, then she tried to figure out where in Edge she was exactly before she started huffing about how the children weren’t willing to do their homework unless she bribed or threatened them. Then she proceeded to talk about how bored it was at the bar without any work to do or  _ adults  _ to talk to and Yuffie quipped lightly about how she barely counted as an adult.

Yuffie’s fingers trailed the tomato plant that was growing up to where her ankle was and before Tifa could go on another tirade, she stopped her in her tracks. “Wait, Teef. I gotta show you something!” She hopped off the ledge of the balcony, careful not to land her feet in a pot before turning her camera towards the row of plants she had meticulous been trying not to murder the last few weeks.

_ “Are those…” _ Tifa was at a loss for words.

“Yep,” Yuffie responded, her camera pointing at another pot now. “Tomato plants. Aren’t you soooooo proud of me? If they end up growing some tomatoes, I’ll totally drop some off for you and the kiddos.” Pointing the camera back to herself, she did an air fistpump before throwing Tifa a confident grin. “You could use it to make tomato sauce! Or whatever people do with tomatoes.”

Her finger on her chin now, Tifa looked thoughtful and a tad excited. _ “Maybe I should grow stuff with the kids on the roof too. There’s so much space up there and we never use it… Granted, there’s not a ton of sun, but I think we get at least a few hours a day…” _

Giggling and feeling so proud of herself, Yuffie hugged the phone to her chest before bouncing back in the apartment. She cast a quick look at Reno, who was preparing dinner, before entering the bedroom and throwing herself in the plush chair in the corner of the room that was usually piled full of clothes.

“It was  _ so messy _ to plant, but super cool when it started growing,” Yuffie giggled. “I wanted to ask you about Elmyra’s lily seeds too. I think I’d like a pot or two of flowers.”

Tifa had a strange look on her face suddenly.  _ “And your boyfriend just...lets you do that on the balcony?”  _ Even her voice sounded a little strained.

“Oh crap,” Yuffie grimaced. “Is it a bad idea to ask Elmyra for lilies? I just thought—”

_ “Yuffie?”  _ Tifa interrupted, her eyes glowing with a little disbelief and Yuffie had to wonder if she had said anything else to piss the barmaid off. 

Throwing on her most sheepish grin, because that usually placated the barmaid to a certain degree, she asked, “Yeah, Teef?”

Tifa licked her lips as if they were dry before she opened her mouth, closed it, and took a deep sigh. Closing her eyes and pressing her fingers to her temple, Yuffie knew _for sure_ she would be in trouble because Tifa _never looked at her like that unless she was in trouble but what the hell had she done?_ _“Yuffie,”_ she repeated herself, her eyes opened now, but jaw tense. _“...Is that a suit jacket on the chair behind you?”_ Pausing a moment, she clarified herself, _“A_ ** _navy_** _suit jacket?”_

There was a moment of absolute silence before Yuffie squealed, “Eeeeeeeeeeeeep!”

_“Oh my_ god _,”_ Tifa murmured, one of her hands covering her mouth. _“Don’t tell me… Was that_ **Reno** _stripping?!”_

And then Yuffie couldn’t hold in her crackles and guffaws as she bounced out of the room, running into the kitchen and into his arms,  _ almost _ causing him bodily harm and the bowl of steaming hot pasta to fly out his hands. It was only out of pure reflex that he had placed the food on the counter before catching her in his arms, his arm supporting her back and under her knees.

“What the  _ fu _ —”

“Someone figured us out!” she roared with laughter, cutting off whatever he had been planning to say. She unplugged the headphones, pointing the camera towards herself and Reno. “Look who it is!”

Reno merely cocked an eyebrow, unsurprised. “Lockhart.”

_ “I knew it,” _ Tifa murmured, a little stunned,  _ “I mean,  _ Reno _ went looking for you during a  _ pandemic. _ How the hell did I not guess that?” _

“Reno,” Yuffie grinned teasingly. “She really liked it when you stripped on camera.” Reno’s jaw clenched slightly as he glared at her for bringing that up. Again.

The barmaid went red in the face almost instantly. _ “I did  _ not  _ say that.” _

“Fine, you didn’t,” Yuffie conceded, but a wicked smirk graced her face the next instant and Tifa tensed in wariness. “But I bet you’d like it if  _ another _ turkey stripped for you, no?”

Cheeks darkening even more now, Tifa scowled, “ **_Yuffie!_ ** ”

Yuffie continued to cackle, encouraged by Reno’s snickers, but upon seeing Tifa’s glare, she decided to cut the barmaid a little slack. “Fine, I’ll stop teasing you about Baldy, but only if you promise not to tell anyone else ‘bout us, ‘kay? We’re trying to see how long it takes for everyone to figure it out and you’re the first!”

Eyes wide, she glanced between the two of them. _ “I’m first? How long has it been?” _

“Almost eight months now!” Yuffie responded a little giddily, feeling her neck heat up as she tried to fight down a blush. Rolling his eyes, Reno tried to put her down, but her one unoccupied hand snuck up behind his back and clutched onto his shoulder tightly.

Tifa bit her lips, holding back a smile as she gave Reno her little warning,  _ “You better treat her right, Reno. Otherwise I’m gonna come and kick your ass.” _

He snorted, unconvinced. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t go runnin’ off your mouth tellin’ Rude though.”

_ “I don’t even—” _

“I know you talk to him on the phone,” Reno interrupted, eyes gleaming with mirth, before adding, “Daily. More than once a day now.”

"Wait.” Blushing, Tifa tried to change the subject,  _ “Did you get Yuffie to cut your hair?” _

Reno was about to open his mouth when Yuffie elbowed him lightly in the chest and hopped out of his arms, glad that she no longer had to hide the apartment from her friend. Leaning up to give the redhead a peck, she bounced back towards the couch and replugged in her headphone, feeling a little lighter.

“Reno told me he picked up stripping while on a job. Do you think Baldy knows how to strip dance too? Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.”

“ **_Yuffie!_ ** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as I was googling about Reno's hair for this chapter (how the hell does one cut such hair?), I found out that his hair is dyed...which has made my entire life a lie. However, I'm gonna pretend he's a natural redhead...because…yeah :(
> 
> As usual, comments and suggestions are very much appreciated!


	8. Day 50

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Just tried to call Chief. Guess who answered instead?" Reno asked, his breath warm on her face.
> 
> Yuffie bit her lower lips tightly, shaking her head, eyes wide with a shrug, "Dunno. I can't get in your phone, ya know."
> 
> "We both know that's a lie, Kisaragi," he drawled, lowering his face even closer to hers, "My question is why you've decided to choose Valentine of all people to replace Chief’s number, knowing I’ve been calling him regularly.”

Fifty days. It had been fifty days since she had been stuck, indoors, and had to find ways to occupy herself. While she had been dubious about her successes for gardening, she had somehow been proven wrong and her little pots of tomatoes and strawberries were slowly growing and thriving and she couldn’t be happier.

Elated to have somehow succeeded in the first hobby she had picked up, she had gone to ask Tifa for recommendations for a second hobby because she was  _ bored, bored, bored _ … Which, now that she thought about it, was probably a bad idea because Tifa was  _ perfect _ and always triumphed in  _ everything _ that she did. But the barmaid had suggested  _ cooking _ and  _ baking  _ because she had been doing a lot of that to preoccupy the children’s time, and Yuffie had  _ never done either of those _ because she was a bloody princess.

But Yuffie was nothing if not confident and she thought that if Marlene and Denzel could help with either of those, then  _ she _ could manage to cook a simple meal by herself  _ from scratch _ and bake  _ something. _

Tifa had spent over an hour brainstorming easy recipe ideas with the young ninja of what to make before sending cooking and baking instructions to her.

As she stared at the recipes on her phone, Yuffie wondered if she had bitten off more than she could chew.

Because Tifa had said that it would be  _ simple. _ Except none of these instructions  _ looked _ simple.

What did dicing an onion mean? Or like, mincing garlic? How did one sift flour?

What the hell had she gotten herself into? Did Reno even  _ own _ measuring cups and spoons for her to cook?

Already stressed out and she hadn’t even started, she called Tifa back and asked for clarifications of everything and Tifa, the most amazing person ever, had calmly and patiently explained every term for her. 

“You said this was gonna be easy!” Yuffie accused, her voice a little sharp, a dejected pout on her face. She cursed Tifa for making it seem easy because she had told Reno she would be in charge of lunch and Reno was currently looking at her from the couch mockingly and, “Arggggghh!”

_ “It  _ is  _ easy, Yuffie. Just try it and call if you have questions. Just do one thing at a time though, okay? Don’t make lunch and bake your brownie at the same time.” _

“But I wanted brownies for dessert!” she whined.

Tifa exhaled slowly and Yuffie could tell she was starting to grate on the older woman’s nerves, _ “You can have the brownies early afternoon. Just start on the pasta first. Trust me.” _

“Fine,” Yuffie grumbled. 

After double-checking the pasta instructions with Tifa, she squared her own shoulders and began to mince the garlic, which was cutting it until it was  _ small _ . Why couldn’t they just say that? And then she had to dice the onion, which meant cutting it  _ less small. _

And things were going well until… Yuffie sniffled and before she knew what the hell was going on, her eyes were burning and tears were gushing out of her eyes and it hurt  _ so damn much. _

“What the hell?!” she ended up sobbing and she wasn’t  _ sad _ but dammit her eyes hurt and why couldn’t her tears stop? “Does this always happen when you cut onions?!” she yelped, closing her eyes in pain, but even then she could feel the droplets dripping down her chin and she placed the knife down.

Just as she was about to wipe the tears away with the back of her hands, she heard his soft snickers beside her and felt the soft touch of tissues on her cheeks, “First time cutting onions, princess?”

Her eyes still closed, she turned her body around to face him, a small pout on her lips before she whined, “You know damn well it is! I’m royalty! I’m not meant to be in the kitchen!” She opened her eyes slowly and closed them just as quickly because they still  _ stung, _ but she took the tissues from his hands anyways to dab at her eyes.

He must have felt a little sorry for her, because the next moment, he had offered to finish up lunch.

“No,” Yuffie responded stubbornly. “I’m gonna finish that damn pasta if it’s the last thing I do. And seriously, you’d think instructions would be less complicated.” Finally, she managed to keep her eyes open without wanting to die.

“If you’re sure.” He smirked, sauntering back to his lounging position on the couch.

She finished dicing the onions quickly, throwing them in a bowl far away from her because her eyes were beginning to sting  _ again.  _ Staring at the recipe dejectedly, she read the next step which was to cut the bacon  _ coarsely _ , and according to Tifa, coarsely was big chunks. But how big?

Throwing the penne in the pot of boiling water, she turned on the stove for the bacon, onion and garlic and within a few minutes, the pasta and parmesan had been incorporated and the dish was ready. She had to admit that it hadn’t been  _ too  _ difficult, and if she were to do it again next time, it probably would be a lot easier. 

She scooped two large portions in two separate bowls and bounced over the Reno, practically dropping the bowl in his lap, a little too close to his crotch for his comfort, earning herself a small glare.

“Soooooooooooo?” Yuffie asked, a large grin on her face.

Reno looked a little skeptical as he stabbed a few pieces of pasta and bacon with his fork, studying the food before finally placing it in his mouth and chewing carefully. When he didn’t empty the contents from his mouth right away, Yuffie took the cue and shovelled a big bite into her own mouth, wincing slightly at the texture.

He snorted a little, his lips quirking up slightly. “Pasta’s a little overcooked.”

“I can tell,” Yuffie muttered glumly, “The garlic’s burnt too.”

“But it doesn’t taste bad,” Reno reassured her quickly, “Could use a little salt and pepper, but otherwise, it’s fine. It’s your first time, yeah?”

“Guess so,” she moped, but a smile made its way back onto her lips. “I’m gonna make brownies after lunch.”

When lunch was done, and Yuffie had suspected Reno finished the rest of the pasta to make her feel better, she insisted on doing the dishes, having planned to get started on the brownies.

Because how hard could brownies be? Sure, Reno didn't own a set of measuring cups, but she could use regular drinking cups and use that to eyeball the measurements. Tifa said that this was the recipe with the fewest ingredients and she really only had to measure out the sugar, flour and cocoa powder.

So focused on the task that she didn't notice Reno walking towards the kitchen with his brow furrowed. It wasn't until he was leaning against the pantry cabinet with his arms crossed and he  _ cleared his throat _ that Yuffie looked up at him, her tongue sticking out of her mouth in concentration.

"What?" Yuffie asked, her eyebrow quirked up in question, her hands dusted white and brown from the flour and cocoa powder.

He approached her, hands in his pockets, his face scowling and she realized that he looked far from threatening when he wasn't in his suit. As a matter of fact, he looked a little ridiculous in his t-shirt and sweatpants with that look on his face. And then she suddenly had a moment of epiphany and she couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her lips.

Reno tilted her chin up as he stared at her, his eyes gleaming and she couldn't tell if it was from anger, amusement or annoyance. "How'd you get into my phone, brat?"

"Huh?" she asked, although she knew the small smirk on her lips betrayed her. "Dunno whatcha talking about."

"Just tried to call Chief. Guess who answered instead?" He asked, his breath warm on her face.

She bit her lower lips tightly, shaking her head, eyes wide with a shrug. "Dunno. I can't get in your phone, ya know."

"We both know that's a lie, Kisaragi," Reno drawled, lowering his face even closer to hers. "My question is why you've decided to choose  _ Valentine _ of all people to replace Chief’s number, knowing I’ve been calling him regularly.”

At this, Yuffie couldn’t contain her peals of laughter as she gasped between each chortle. “Oh my  _ gawd, _ what did he say?”

“Who fuckin’ knows. I hung up right away.” Reno flicked her forehead lightly. “Now give me Chief’s number, you brat. I promised I’d call.”

“You  _ hung up  _ on  _ Vince? _ ” she screeched disbelievingly before another bout of guffawing took over and she had to wipe the tears from the corner of her eyes, inadvertently smearing streaks of white and brown on her own face. She slid down the side of the kitchen counter to sit on the floor, her sides hurting as she continued to giggle, the image of Reno hanging up on an irritated Vincent engraved in her mind. “Omigawd, you hung up on Vince!”

Reno rolled his eyes, but couldn’t stop the grin from crossing his face at the sight of her clutching her sides. “I still need Chief’s number.”

“Have you—” she couldn’t stop her own giggles. “Tried to call ‘Lena—” she took a deep breath to calm herself before bursting into another fit. “To ask for his number? ”

He dug his toes into her sides, earning more tears and giggles from the ninja on the ground, “Pretty sure you’ve changed every number in my contacts. I’ll deal with you later ‘bout that. For now, Chief’s number.”

An hour and a half later, after Yuffie finally gave up Tseng’s number, after she had promised to revert all the contacts on his phone, after the brownie was done baking, they stood in the kitchen, staring mutedly at the very dry-looking dessert.

Reno gulped a bit before shooting her a thin smile, “It doesn’t...smell bad?”

“It looks fricken terrible,” Yuffie muttered, shooting it a disgusted look as she poke the pan with a knife. “How the hell does it look  _ nothing _ like what Teef makes?”

He gave a sigh, cursed himself for falling for her sad puppy look, and cut a small piece of a corner out before popping it into his mouth. “It’s...” he tried to think of a word for it before finally settling on being honest. “It’s not terrible. Just a little dry,” he admitted.

Yuffie squealed, and scrambled up into his arms, just happy that he had been  _ willing  _ to try cause it looked  _ awful  _ and she would never in a million years taste it herself. “You tried it! You tried it!”

His hands automatically held her thighs, supporting her weight before he gave her an amused look. “Y’know, Yuff… I have no idea how the hell you survived so many years without learning how to cook.”

She couldn’t stop herself from dissolving into laughter as she clutched onto his shoulders tightly. A few moments passed before she could truly respond to him, “Why the hell do you think I’m always with Teef?” And then she grinned playfully, “Does that mean you’ll take over cooking from now?”

Reno snorted. “It means you’re gonna learn.”

Yuffie raised her eyebrow, “You realize I’m gonna drive you crazy, right?”

“You already drive me fuckin’ crazy,” he muttered, and before she could retort, he lowered his lips to hers and she hummed cheekily, bringing her hands to his face to deepen the kiss.

* * *

“You know this is hopeless, right?” Yuffie muttered, a little annoyed as Reno continued to order her around and dammit if she wasn’t ever going to listen to the Commissioner of the WRO or the Savior of the Planet, she wasn’t going to listen to this Second-in-Command that wasn’t even her  _ boss. _

“It wouldn’t be if you would just fuckin’  _ pay attention _ to what I’m doin’,” he retorted with annoyance. “At this rate, we won’t be havin’ dinner till midnight.”

She threw her hands in the air in frustration. “I  _ am _ paying attention! I just don’t understand  _ why _ we’re putting all the veggies and chicken like that. Doesn’t it have to cook first?”

“I’m  _ tryin’ _ to teach you to cook something that will be easy,  _ even for you, _ ” he sneered, “It’s called a one-pan dinner and we throw it in the oven and everything  _ cooks together. _ ”

She blinked. “Why the hell didn’t you say so?”

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyebrows drawn together tightly. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes again. “I’ve been tryin’ to tell you that the past half an hour.”

Her teeth bit her upper lip until she couldn’t help it and the corners of her mouth twisted upwards involuntarily. But still, no sound of laughter escaped her.

Reno sighed, “You  _ were _ listening.”

She couldn’t help the grin from forming at the sound of defeat in his voice. “I  _ was _ listening,” she admitted with a nod, her grin slowly growing. “I’d like to think I'm smart enough to follow simple instructions.”

“Why?” His hands went up to his hair again.

Knife out, she began to cut the vegetables and placed them on the pan  _ exactly _ as he had instructed before tossing it in the spices and oil he had laid out, finally placing the already marinated chicken on top. At the sound of his frustrated grunt, she turned her face to face him. “It’s a lot of fun pissing you off, Turkey.”

Glowering at her, he responded, “I’m not amused.”

She snickered slightly before washing her hands quickly and tossing the pan of food into the oven and turned to face him. “But  _ I _ am. Your jaw gets all tense when you’re mad,” she murmured teasingly before grazing his jaw with her fingers. “And then your eyes get all smoldery and  _ hawt _ and you can never resist throwing me into bed,” she giggled a little before adding, “Or against the wall. That’s a lot of fun too.”

“I’m about to bend you over the kitchen counter.”

Her eyes darkened, her tongue ran over her lips just briefly before she tilted her head, an impish grin on her face. “Is that a promise?”

His eyes flickered over to the oven, his lips quirking up dangerously as his gaze returned to her and Yuffie could feel her heart race. “We’ve got half an hour.”

“More if you don’t mind burnt food,” Yuffie added with a chortle.

And then his lips pressed against hers, her hands entangled in his hair, and his fingers dug into her hips and Yuffie really hoped Reno set a timer on the oven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was initially planned to be five chapters to get myself back into chaptered fics, then it turned into ten, and now I think I might add another chapter or two. I'm trying really hard not to extend it, but it's a little too fun to write :)
> 
> As usual, comments and suggestions are very much appreciated!


	9. Day 65

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Are we…” Reeve paused for a moment before clearing his throat, “Are we talking about the same person?”
> 
> “Wait,” Yuffie blinked in puzzlement, “Are we? Carrot top? Cocky asshole? Turk?”
> 
> The Commissioner couldn’t stop the snort of amusement from escaping, “Sounds like you think highly of him.”

_ “Edge has seen a steady decline in the hospitalization rates over the last month, WRO Health officials say, with the number of patients in intensive care now just one-third of what it was at the peak of the crisis.” _

_ “Thousands of children will be going back to class in two weeks as schools in Edge reopen on a voluntary basis, meaning families can decide if they want their children to go to clsass or to continue learning from home. Non-essential businesses like restaurants, pubs, arts, retail and health services can reopen, however, businesses must meet industry-specific guidelines before reopening in order to protect staff and customers.” _

_ “Visitors and citizens returning to Edge  _ **_must_ ** _ quarantine for fourteen days and plan to stay in the city for at least fifteen days. Commissioner Tuesti of the WRO has announced that checkpoints at every major entry point into the city will be implemented. WRO members will be making home visits to ensure that visitors and citizens are complying with the mandatory 14-day isolation.” _

“Wow,” Yuffie muttered, unimpressed, as she stretched her arm above her head. “Work is gonna be boring as hell the next little while.”

Reno set the coffee mugs in front of them and sat down, his lanky frame taking up a surprising amount of space as his arm draped lazily over the back of the couch, his legs making a clunk as it landed on the table. “It’ll be interestin’ to see how work looks like for the next lil bit.”

She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes and he could tell she felt a little giddy at the prospect of being able to leave the apartment. Snuggling up to his side, she peered up at him with a small grin on her face. “Think Rufus will be loaning the turkeys out to the WRO to make these boring ass rounds too?”

Even that little simple act of her curling up to his side sent an unfamiliar feeling in his chest and he felt his arm wrap around her shoulders subconsciously. Somehow, even after all these months of being together, he was still surprised at how small she felt compared to him and he had to constantly remind himself how deadly the fully-fledged ninja in his arms was, especially when she looked up at him with those deceivingly innocent eyes.

“Why?” he asked, keeping his voice leveled. “You gonna miss seein’ me everyday?”

“Yep,” she admitted unabashedly. “It’s gonna take some getting used to, ya know? I probably won’t be able to visit ‘till the weekends, especially with how busy it’s gonna get after the pandemic.”

It never failed to amaze him how she could be so open about her own feelings and the idea of not seeing her every day bothered him, even though he knew it shouldn’t. Before the pandemic, he hadn’t seen her regularly either, so it would just be back to their normal routine, but…

He was about to graze his lips against her temple when he changed his mind and ruffled her hair instead. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt like such an idiot. “I don’t see us getting back to our regular missions anytime soon, so yeah, Boss will probably lend us out to Reeve.”

She giggled slightly, “What’re the chances they’ll put us together?”

“Not likely,” he snorted.

Her grin widened as she reached for her coffee. “True enough. Wouldn’t want us to kill each other on the job. Little do they know we’ll probably find a nice quiet place instead.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him and took a large sip...before choking and spluttering out her coffee.

Reno handed a few pieces of tissue to her, unfazed, as he patted her back comfortingly. “Told ya to take smaller sips. You’re gonna choke and die one of these days.”

Incredulously, she glared at him over her shoulder. “You  _ know  _ I didn’t cough it up cause I took a big sip, you asshole. You  _ salted _ my friggin’ coffee!” She winced and opened her mouth in disgust, her tongue sticking out. “ _ Gawd.  _ How much did you put in there? It’s so salty it’s  _ bitter.  _ Grossness. I can’t believe you  _ messed with my coffee. _ ”

His lips quirked up slightly. “Same amount of sugar as I usually do.”

“Urk!” she gagged as she put down the mug, disappointed. “If I vomit all over your carpet, you’re cleaning it up.”

He snickered, “That’s for constantly changing Chief’s number to Valentine’s. I think I must’ve called the vampire half a dozen times by now.”

“You should’ve learned your lesson by now! Maybe if you  _ knew _ Tseng’s number, you wouldn’t keep dialing when I change it!” Her expression turned playful. “Does Vince suspect anything?”

Smirk widening, he leaned forward in his seat. “He told me to tell you to stop fuckin’ around with my phone or there will be consequences.”

Yuffie tilted her head, gazing into his eyes before a small grin appeared. “He threatened you, didn’t he?”

Reno rolled his eyes before responding, “Maybe.”

She chortled loudly before turning around before jumping onto him with her legs on each side of him, “You know what that means, right?”

“That you have obnoxiously annoying and overprotective friends?” His hands grabbed her sides.

“It means,” she whispered to him, her eyes dancing. “That Reeve knows. And that there might be a chance they’ll put us on the same team after all, with our good track record and the threat of us killing each other gone.”

He couldn’t explain to himself why he suddenly felt  _ excited _ at the prospect of working with the ninja. It wouldn’t be the first time they were paired together, and while he had to admit she drove him up the wall with her impulsive decisions and questionable calls, she could more than hold her own ground. He’d seen it multiple times.

So why the excitement? Shouldn’t he be tired of the brat already?

She lowered her lips closer to his and he could feel them move as she whispered against his. “We could always sneak off if things get a little boring.”

“And you call me the perv,” he muttered.

Her lips curved up mischievously. “What can I say? You’re a bad influence on me, ya know?” 

* * *

Yuffie gave another sigh as she continued to listen to the droning of her boss regarding the city reopening.

Her eyes lifted up from the growing tomato plants and focused themselves on the redhead inside the kitchen who seemed to be making more of a mess. Yuffie’s brows furrowed because they had just finished dinner and he should be  _ cleaning up.  _ Instead, Reno’s eyes were focused on a metal bowl as he mixed and she squinted her eyes to look…

Were those cookies?

Was he making  _ chocolate chip cookies  _ for the movie?

Her mouth started salivating at the thought because she had missed Tifa’s cookies  _ so much _ and she realized that it had been over two months since she had seen anyone else other than Reno. Two entire months. With luck, she would be seeing other people soon.

At that thought, a small frown crossed her face because as great as the idea of being able to go  _ outside _ was, she knew that she would miss this domesticated life with the Turk. It had been nice, spending time with and getting to know each other—she knew that if the pandemic hadn’t happened, she would still feel like she was in a casual relationship with Reno. 

But would going back to normalcy change anything? Or would it just be going back to whatever it was before the pandemic? Because truth be told, she wasn’t really ready to go  _ back. _ She liked seeing him everyday, and she knew she was starting to sound clingy, but the idea of seeing only Reno on the weekends made her inexplicably sad.

_ Gawd,  _ she sounded like a lovesick teenager. And that was the last thing she needed because dammit Yuffie Kisaragi was not clingy!

_ “Are you even listening to me?” _ Reeve’s voice rang out loudly in her ears and she almost stumbled off the railing, surprised at the sudden ear-splitting noise.

“Uh, no?” she responded sheepishly, hoping she wouldn’t receive a lecture. Reeve was pretty good at those, since he tended to think of himself as her adopted dad and she liked to think of him as her adopted dad that she didn’t listen to. There were plenty of those in her life. Her mind flashed towards a blond, chain-smoking pilot and she thought bitterly to herself how these adoptive dads were  _ still _ a better father figure than her own.

She could envision Reeve rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hand in frustration and she was proud of the fact that she was one of the few who could crack Reeve’s calm, collected,  _ professional _ persona. He sighed,  _ “You have something on your mind, Yuffie?” _

Her gaze refocused on the Turk who seemed to know that he was on her mind, because he shot her a lazy smirk and her heart fluttered and she didn’t know if she wanted to punch him or kiss him. She wondered briefly how long Reeve would pretend not to know about her and Reno, but decided ultimately that she was too impatient to wait for him to bring it up. 

“I know you  _ know, _ Reeve,” she remarked as she twiddled with the cord.

_ “Know what?” _ he asked.

Yuffie rolled her eyes, “I know Vince warned him off, which means he told  _ you  _ because he’s a snitch.”

_ “Vincent is not a sn—” _

She sighed loudly and hopped off the railing as she began pacing around the balcony, “Cat-boy, we’ll agree to disagree, although you know as well as I do that he  _ is _ a snitch. I’m just waiting for your little spiel about how I should stay away from him, yada, yada, blah, blah.”

For a few long moments, Reeve was quiet and Yuffie wondered if she had been wrong and he  _ didn't know. _ Or maybe he wasn’t planning to give her a lecture because he thought she was responsible and independent enough to make her own decisions.

But then Reeve said her name with that exasperated exhale and she had to roll her eyes again because she was clearly wrong. “I’ve _ been in the same company with the man for over a decade and a half, and if I had a daughter, I would strongly recommend her again—” _

“It’s a good thing I’m not your daughter then,” she said brightly, knowing that he was saying this because he  _ cared _ for her, but still, she was an adult who could make her own decision, dammit. “Also, you’re kinda making yourself sound old. Well, and him too. And like, that kinda makes me uncomfortable, ya know?”

Another sigh from Reeve and Yuffie wondered if Reno  _ was right _ and she was going to send this man to an early grave,  _ "We  _ are  _ old. A lot older than you anyways." _

“Uh… Really?” It had never crossed Yuffie’s mind to ask Reno exactly how old he was. She’d just assume he was around Cloud’s age...he looked young enough, even with his horrible habits of smoking and drinking. She heard Reeve take a deep breath and she jumped in. “Wait, wait, wait. Don’t answer. I don’t wanna know. I know you’re worried, okay?” Her eyes drifted almost involuntarily back to the redhead who looked like he was cleaning up, and she couldn’t help the grin that grew on her face. “But he makes me happy.”

_ “Are we…” _ Reeve paused for a moment before clearing his throat and Yuffie could imagine his dark eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  _ “Are we talking about the same person?” _

“Wait.” Yuffie blinked in puzzlement because she had just realized they had never mentioned Reno’s name in their entire conversation. “Are we? Carrot top? Cocky asshole? Turk?”

The Commissioner couldn’t stop the snort of amusement from escaping.  _ “Sounds like you think highly of him.” _

“I’d trust him to watch my back,” she responded in an unusually earnest tone and she knew as well as Reeve did that that meant everything in the world that she was a part of. Before the conversation could drift towards a more serious note, she chirped out, “Do you know he’s the only reason I’m alive right now? I don’t think I can cook to save my life…”

* * *

She opened the sliding door eagerly and the smell of chocolate immediately wafted up and overwhelmed her senses. Almost drooling, she sauntered up to the redhead and before she could jump into his arms and kiss him until he was breathless because he baked her  _ chocolate chip cookies,  _ he handed her a cookie.

“Omigawd Reno,” she moaned, lifting the  _ warm and soft _ cookie out of his hands, almost in admiration. “You are the  _ best. _ I can’t believe you can  _ bake _ . What the hell? How many talents are you hiding from me? Strip dancing, cooking  _ and _ baking? Do you also know how to knit? Play guitar? Maybe give me massages?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. “You ever gonna stop bringin' that up?”

Her eyes crinkled as she giggled slightly, “Nooooooope. But thanks for the cookie anyways!” She bit into it, fully expecting a burst of gooey, melty  _ chocolate _ only to feel completely betrayed. Creasing her brows, she looked deflatedly at the Turk, unimpressed. “ _ Really? _ You gave me a fricken  _ raisin cookie? _ ”

He gave a bark of laughter as his shoulder shook, “You should’ve seen your face.”

“You messed with my coffee this morning and now it’s  _ raisin cookies?  _ If disappointment had a taste, it would be  _ that. _ ” Yuffie pressed her lips together with a slight frown. “So what the hell is that I smell?”

“Chocolate,” Reno confessed, his smirk ever-present, nodding towards a plate of what she hoped were chocolate chip cookies by the stove.

She quickly shoved the rest of the cookie in her mouth. “You’re such a jerk. But you still baked cookies, so I guess I still like you.”

He snorted as he grabbed the plate of cookies, swatting her rear as he made his way to the couch. “Hurry up. It’s getting late and it’s your turn to pick.”

“It’s not my fault Reeve spent half an hour talking about gawd-knows-what. Did you know? He also said that if he had a daughter, he would strongly advise her against going out with  _ you, _ ” Yuffie prattled on, grabbing a random bag of chips and settling herself comfortably against his side.

He rolled his eyes, his arm going around her sides, before grunting out, “It’s a good thing you’re not his daughter then.”

“What’s what  _ I _ said!” she grinned, snuggling deeper into his side. “Hey, pass me a cookie.”

He leaned forward briefly and grabbed one, taking a large bite before passing it off to her. “You gonna pick a movie or not?”

She stuck her tongue out, but took the half eaten cookie anyways. “Yup, yup. Be patient, jeez. Don’t get your panties in a twist.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, comments and suggestions are very much appreciated!


	10. Day 74

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grinning impishly, Yuffie slid her head closer to his, “I was gonna photoshop a pic of Hojo in a bikini for you instead, ya know?”
> 
> Reno made a sound that was halfway between a grunt and a laugh. "That's low, even for you, Kisaragi."
> 
> "But...it was bad enough I had to see him at Costa del Sol that one ti—"
> 
> "Stop talkin’," he muttered a little tiredly as he rubbed his eyes, "I don’t wanna know. Ever."

“You’re such a fuckin’ blanket hog,” Reno grunted out, trying to yank just a few inches of his duvet back.

Yuffie's bleary eyes squinted against the sun’s glare as she tried to pull the blanket over her head. “Gimme! It’s the last day I get to sleep in and I wanna sleep in!”

“After two and a half months, you choose the last day of lockdown to sleep in?” he snorted in amusement as he attempted to elbow away her persistent hands. “This is  _ mine. _ Get your own.”

“Mine!” she clutched tightly to whatever she could get her hands on. “I only want to sleep in because of your  _ stupid _ drinking game last night and I have a massive friggin’ headache, you jerk!”

“Weak sauce,” he muttered, “You’re the one who kept us up last night. If I knew you’d be so fuckin’ frisky after a few, I’d have gotten you drunk sooner.”

Her giggles escaped her before she could hold them back and she swatted at his head playfully. “I’m a lightweight. Why do you think Teef cuts me off after three beers? I get uh...a little difficult to handle.”

He chuckled, "I feel like there's a story there."

"Nope! No story!" she denied a little too quickly before she wedged her feet under his back to try to lift him off the blanket. Then stopping in her tracks, realizing she was having a  _ conversation _ with him first thing in the morning in  _ bed, _ her heart jumped to her throat. And just as quickly, she threw an impish grin on her face and asked him teasingly, "Why are you even talking to me? Shut up and go make some coffee."

He grabbed her knees and yanked her towards him before shooting her a lazy smirk. "I'd rather not."

"In that case," she hummed, her grin widening, "Shut up and kiss me." He barely had time to react before she pulled his face forcefully down to hers.

* * *

"So?" she asked as she smeared cream cheese on the slice of toast. "Whaddya think about going back to work tomorrow?"

Reno shrugged as he sipped his coffee, his gaze studying the way she carried the butter knife like it was a weapon more than it was like a cooking tool and he subconsciously wondered if she had ever killed anyone with a butter knife. "Just back in business. You?"

"It'll be nice to get out of the apartment for some fresh air, but…" she trailed off and she bit her lip, eyes unfocused as if deep in thought.

"But?" he pressed, his free hand caressing her lower back lightly. 

"Ah…" she breathed out, her normally pale cheeks turning slightly rosy before she squeaked, "Nevermind!"

He cocked an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"Nothing!" Hurriedly, she finished her portion of the routine before escaping his grasp and bouncing over to the couch. She flashed him a grin and he knew she was trying to distract him. "I gotta call Teef after! I wanna see if she needs help with the bar before she reopens."

The coffee mugs in his hands, he followed her and allowed her to drop the topic for now. "I gotta call Rude too." Placing the mugs down and turning on the television, he sat down.

She snickered, her eyes crinkling in mirth and he shoved her with his elbow, causing her to tumble halfway off the couch with an indignant ‘hey!’. It was strange to not see his partner for the last few weeks when he had spent the last decade and a half seeing him practically everyday. It didn’t help that the ninja  _ knew _ and kept mocking him everytime he was on the phone with his partner… He had killed for less. When did he become such a pushover? 

He stopped the thoughts when her slender frame pressed against him. When did he start being such an affection idiot? But his arm wrapped around her anyways.

“What do you even talk to Rude about? He like...doesn’t talk,” she giggled softly, “Ever.”

“Not to  _ you, _ ” Reno snorted, “Cause you’re so damn annoyin’.”

“And you aren’t?” she puffed jokingly and he noticed with amusement that she tended to need to get the last word in.

They watched the news in companionable silence, one of them occasionally leaning over to take a bite or a sip. Unfortunately for Reno, he couldn’t even focus on the program, his mind stuck and confused about how much he enjoyed this unexpected  _ domestic _ morning routine of theirs.

He had always woken up with just enough time for a shower before driving to work. And then she had crashed into his life, waking up at the asscrack of dawn  _ demanding _ coffee and breakfast first thing in the morning and he had reluctantly stocked up the freezer and fridge and bought a coffee machine. Why the hell would he make one at home when Elena made a fresh pot every morning at work?

When Yuffie stood up to clear the dishes, Reno pulled out his cellphone to call Rude, only to proceed to stare at it with raised eyebrows. Surprised, he studied the new image for his lockscreen, his eyes lingering on the way her eyes were dancing, on the slenderness of her neck, or on the way  _ his  _ unbuttoned dress shirt left little to the imagination. While he was dying to comment on it, he knew it would irk her more if he pretended not to see it.

“Yo, Partner!” He couldn’t help but smirk inwardly at her looking up from the sink with an annoyed and slightly disappointed look on her face. Sticking her tongue out at him, she wiped her hands on the kitchen towel before pointing to her phone. He nodded, watching her sashay into the room, hips swaying and he wished she was in nothing but his dress shirt instead.

_ “Partner,” _ said Rude, his voice gruff and Reno wondered briefly if he was still in bed. Rude rarely slept in...

“So, uh, how’s it going?” Reno asked as he stood up to walk to the balcony, an unlit cigarette in his hands. Just as he was about to light it, he heard a phone ring through his speakers and he felt himself blink in surprise before his head whipped towards the direction of where Yuffie would be.

And then he snickered, leaving the cigarette on the railing before turning around the way he came. “You got company, Partner?”

He could hear Rude fumbling out of bed before replying curtly,  _ “No.” _

“Liar,” he shot back before opening the bedroom door loudly, the banging causing Yuffie to jump up from where she was sitting on the bed. Hanging up the phone, he ignored Yuffie’s dumbstruck face before sliding up to her and staring right at Tifa on Yuffie’s screen. “Heeeeeeeeeey Lockhart.”

Tifa’s eyes darted towards something unseen in the distance before she sighed and waved someone towards her. “Hi Reno.”

“I think you’ve got my Partner with you.” He smirked and he watched Yuffie’s eyes bulge out in surprise.

“Wait  _ what? _ ” Yuffie screeched, her hold on her phone tightening. “Wait, wait, wait. Where does the old geezer think you are?”

Tifa brushed her fingers through her dishevelled hair and Yuffie couldn’t help but let out a small giggle.  _ “Barret thinks I’m with you. I told him I was worried about you staying with your boyfriend.” _

“Busted! You must be glad I called your cell and not the bar, huh?” Yuffie grinned. “Where’s baldy? Is he hiding? Shy maybe?”

Tifa’s weight shifted slightly before Rude appeared on the screen and Reno couldn’t help the bark of laughter from observing his partner’s slightly reddened cheeks. He knew that things had been friendly between him and the barmaid for a few months, but to see that they had taken the next step was not only a surprise but a joy. It had been a  _ long _ time since Rude’s last date.

“Hi baldy!” Yuffie chirped, completely unashamed. “Surprise! It's me!”

_ “Lady Kisaragi,”  _ Rude greeted and Yuffie scowled at the title. Reno wished his partner wasn’t wearing his sunglasses so that he could read his face easier.  _ “It's not a  _ complete  _ surprise…" _ he trailed off slightly, his eyes darting between the redhead and the ninja.

_ “Cause they're two peas in a pod,” _ Tifa muttered, casting an accusing glance at both of them.

They talked for a few minutes, Rude remaining awkwardly silent as Reno threw a few digs at the new couple every few moments. Tifa had thanked Yuffie for her offer to help at the bar, but because Barret would be staying at Seventh Heaven for a while until the pandemic completely blew over, he would be a helping hand. However, she was still welcomed to drop by for a drink after work. At that, Reno had asked Rude whether he was free for a drink after work to celebrate not only to work, but also to his newfound relationship, and Rude had shot him a murderous glare before leaving the screen. 

When Yuffie finally hung up the call, she couldn’t stop her giggles as she leaned against him. “Who do you think made the first move?”

“Lockhart,” he snorted, “Hands down. I’ve watched Rude pine over her for years and he hasn’t done shit.”

“They’re both so...reserved.”

“Two peas in a pod,” Reno said, snickering.

* * *

She laid in bed and listened to the occasional honks sixteen floors below, her gaze studying the way the moonlight cast its glow on the wall of the room. Her body shifted slightly and she wished her pillow and sheets were cool as she rolled to her side instead—her eyes subconsciously wandering to study his face. Her mind suddenly recalled the first day they had met on Da-Chao all those years ago and she couldn't help the small snort of amusement from escaping.

Who knew that six years later, she would be lying awake in his bed, unable to sleep.

She loved the way his tattoos contrasted against his pale skin, and the way he almost seemed at peace with his eyes closed, and the way his lips quirked up just slightly even in slumber. Hearing his light snores and watching his bare chest rising almost imperceptibly with each breath made her heart flutter frantically and she’d like to think that there weren’t many people in the world he would be willing to let down his guard like  _ this. _

Because there weren’t many people she would with either. There was no room for complacency in the world they lived in.

As if sensing her stare, Reno opened his eyes languidly as he looked her a little wearily and she blushed slightly, a little embarrassed at being caught red-handed staring at him. She cursed him for being so aware even while asleep but she didn’t look away, enjoying the rare unguarded look in his eyes.

Even so, she said the first thing that came to her mind. “You didn’t comment on my selfie.”

“You really needa tell me how you keep gettin’ into my phone,” he responded, his voice heavy with sleep and she could imagine the snarky tone he would have used if he wasn’t so tired.

She felt a little bad at waking him up, but really, it wasn’t her fault—she had only been staring. Grinning impishly, she slid her head closer to his, a mere few inches away. “I was gonna photoshop a pic of Hojo in a bikini for you instead, ya know?”

Reno made a sound that was halfway between a grunt and a laugh. "That's low, even for you, Kisaragi."

If she wasn't lying down so comfortably on the bed, her arms would be flailing as she responded defensively. “I decided against it, okay?! I couldn’t stomach the thought of having to look at his ugly face again. Ugh...it was bad enough I had to see him at Costa del Sol that one time—"

"Stop talkin’," he muttered a little tiredly as he rubbed his eyes, "I don’t wanna know. Ever."

She snickered quietly but decided against replying, knowing that he was about to fall back asleep. Casting him another grin, she moved back towards her original position on her pillow before turning her head to study the ceiling again. She wondered briefly what time it was, but decided against checking her phone because the brightness of the screen tended to keep her up for even longer.

Her mind wandered and it was always in the stillness of the night, when it was too quiet and too long, that she thought of the problems that weighed her down. She thought of Wutai, of her job, of the man sleeping beside her.

A small inaudible sigh escaped her lips and she shifted her body yet again, hoping to find a more comfortable position as she tried to push her ponderings away.

"You good?" he asked, after a long stretch of silence, his voice still drowsy.

"Yeah," she said, looking over towards him with a small quirk of her lips, surprised he hadn't fallen back asleep yet. "Just can't sleep. Don't worry 'bout it."

His drowsy half-lidded eyes studied her intently in the dark, tracing over her delicate cheekbones, her reassuring smile and her brown doe eyes. 

"C'mere," he murmured, motioning her to come over as he lifted the tangled sheets up higher and opened his arms.

She didn't need another invitation as she slipped into his embrace, her hands folded in front of her as she snuggled herself into his chest, her head tucked under his chin. Taking a deep breath, a smile crossed her face as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath of  _ him. _

"I'm gonna miss this," she admitted childishly, her voice sounding a lot smaller than she intended.

She felt his arms tightening around her waist and that sent her heart racing and her breath hitched almost imperceptibly. She knew that he would miss this just as much as she would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, comments and suggestions are very much appreciated!


	11. Day 75

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You realize this means war, right?” Yuffie could hear the smile in Reno's voice and her heart swelled.
> 
> “I’m counting on it. See you later, Turkey!”

Pushing the plates of bagels aside, Yuffie bounced over to the pantry to grab two ziplock bags and the opened box of Oreo cookies. With her tongue sticking out from focusing hard, she studied each cookie before placing them carefully in the two separate ziplock bags and zipped them up. Placing one of the bags inside her own knapsack, she left the other one on the kitchen counter before bringing the bagels to the coffee table and turning on the television with a small smirk on her face.

A couple minutes later, Reno exited the bedroom sporting his usual navy suit and Yuffie couldn’t help but study his frame from the corner of her eyes. He really did look dashing in his uniform.

His phone buzzed and her eyes flickered over to the screen, noticing smugly that he had kept her selfie on his lockscreen. “‘Lena texted you!” she called to him, her eyes back on him again. She didn’t even realize how much she had missed seeing him in his suit until this very moment.

A grunt of affirmation could be heard as Reno poured out the cream and sugar in the mugs.

Before she could tease him about how much the lack of sleep affected him, a few loud knocks echoed through the apartment and she cast a small questioning glance at him. He looked just as clueless as her as he took a sip of coffee before placing it back down on the countertop.

“Rude?” she asked, standing up from her seat and walking towards the door.

Reno joined her shortly with his hand hovering near his gun holster. A few more knocks were heard and Yuffie unlocked the door and pulled it open to reveal a pair of shocked amber eyes.

“Oh!” Yuffie breathed, her eyes wide, not having expected her although she really should have since she just texted Reno.

“Well then,” Reno snorted, “This is real fuckin’ awkward.”

Elena was holding a handful of reusable masks, her own face covered with a plain black one, but if Yuffie had to guess, her mouth was opened wide in shock. A muffled word escaped her lips, which Yuffie had interpreted as her shouting her name. Blinking in complete surprise, she took off her mask to just stare at the two of them.

He raised his brow. “What was that?”

“Yuffie,” she said, with her brows furrowed, “ _ Yuffie _ is your girlfriend?”

“No shit?”

Yuffie’s chortle rang loudly throughout the empty hallway, an unexpected warmth flowing over her at his so-called admission. She glanced back at him over her shoulder, her eyes bright with affection before she turned around to face the blond. “Hi ‘Lena.”

“Well that explains the secrecy,” Elena muttered as a slow smile appeared on her face and her eyes grew playful. “I’m guessing since Reno hasn’t been killed yet that Wallace or Highwind doesn’t know?”

Reno scowled. “I can handle the assholes.”

Yuffie grinned. “ _ I _ can handle them myself, thank you very much.”

Elena’s smile only grew larger as she said, “Wow. Can’t believe it’s  _ Yuffie. _ I’m surprised you both survived almost three months together.” Yuffie could only laugh at that because she had surprisingly  _ enjoyed  _ being in his company the last few weeks even though she had been skeptical at the beginning of the lockdown. “Anyways, I brought you some masks. Gotta wear them to work, both of you.”

The scowl on Reno’s face widened, but he took the masks in his hands anyways.

“I’ll see you at work, Reno.” Elena waved. “Bye Yuffie.”

Reno slammed the door shut in her face before Yuffie could say a proper goodbye and she rolled her eyes at the childish antics of the Turk.

“Bye ‘Lena!” she shouted through the door and she could hear Elena’s quiet response. She giggled slightly as she joined Reno on the couch just as he was placing the mugs on the table. Without waiting, she bit into her bagel, her mind not really on the news. She was a little anxious going back to work but she couldn’t quite figure out why and she wondered if it was because she really would miss  _ this. _ The thought of spending tonight in her room in the WRO saddened her more than she thought it would. Her tongue licked her lips, the strawberry jam causing her lips to feel sticky.

Reno finished his bagel and downed his coffee before glancing at her. “Hurry up,” he murmured.

She cast a confused gaze at him because the news wasn’t done yet and he still had an hour before he had to leave the apartment. Her, on the other hand, she would have to leave within the next ten minutes to make it on time. It would take at least forty-five minutes for her to make it back to the WRO building on foot, and that was if she hurried. It would be a good exercise for her. She had barely kept up with her workouts, preferring to lay around the apartment and be lazy.

“I’ll drive you to work,” he said, turning off the news. 

“Huh?” she questioned dumbly, her mouth still chewing. When she finally understood his offer, her eyes widened in slight shock. “Really?”

He cocked his eyebrow at her. “You don’t want me to?”

“I do…?” she answered, her brows furrowing, “It’s just that...you’ve never offered.”

Before she could digest his offer, he asked, “What time are you off?”

She blinked, a little relieved, because Reno had often asked this question before. “Iunno. Maybe four or five. Depends on Cat-boy’s mood, but I don’t think we’ll have much to do today.” She shoved the last bite of bagel in her mouth before finishing her coffee.

“Text me. I’ll come pick you up,” he muttered, and then took the mugs and plates to the kitchen.

Yuffie couldn’t quite wrap her mind around the idea of what he was implying. Was she missing something? But she couldn’t quite resist the feeling of hope that was welling up inside her. She took a deep breath before asking, “You’re not...tired of me yet?”

His hands dug through one of the kitchen drawers, the one Yuffie had dubbed ‘crap drawer’ and he had a slight expression of apprehension on his face before his usual cockiness took over. Without warning, he tossed her something that she had caught in the air with her hand. 

Both curious and surprised, she opened her palm to reveal, “A key?”

“Bring some of your own damn clothes too from the WRO so you don’t keep stealing my damn sweatpants and shirts,” he said gruffly.

She swallowed disbelievingly. “Are you asking me to move in with you?”

“Fuck no,” Reno grunted out, his hand running through his hair, “Just… leave your shit here, and stuff.”

She felt a small smile on her lips threatening to become a laugh and she had to use all of her self-control to hold it back. “And sleep at your place?”

“Sure,” he drawled, “Do that.”

Yuffie felt the biggest urge to force him to admit he had just asked her to move in with him, but she held back the desire to push his buttons. She had all the time in the world once she settled in. Even so, she couldn’t stop the impish grin from crossing her face, nor could she stop her face from beaming happily. “You know you’re gonna regret this, right? You won’t be able to get rid of me,” she teased.

“Someone needs to come and water those damn plants so that we can have tomatoes soon,” he muttered.

She strode the few steps towards him and surprised him by cupping his cheeks and pulling his face down towards hers. She studied the way his lips quirked upwards and the way his eyes softened  _ for her _ . And then he lowered his face to his to kiss her with a tenderness that made her chest throb.

Pulling away slowly, she peered up at him and hoped her eyes conveyed to him just exactly what she thought of him. And before she was tempted to kiss him again and cause both of them to be late for work, she grabbed the bag of Oreo that she had packed him earlier.

“I always pack a snack for myself. Here’s yours,” she explained with a small grin.

“It’s a wonder you’re not 300 pounds yet, with all the sugar you consume,” he uttered, stuffing the ziplock bag in his suit pockets.

Her grin widened. “You sound jealous.”

“Am not.”

“Are too!”

* * *

Yuffie shifted in her seat on the couch, her eyes glancing up briefly to look at Reeve who looked deep in thought as he read a piece of document on his desk. She sighed with boredom and threw her body sideways on the couch, her eyes never leaving her boss. Not sure if he was deliberately ignoring her or just too focused on his task, she sighed again, much louder this time.

With his eyebrows raised interest, Reeve looked at her, “Can I help you, Yuffie?”

“I’m bored,” she responded with a small frown.

Reeve rubbed the temples on both sides of his head before casting a small glare at her. “Shelke is compiling the list of visitors and citizens requiring home visits as we speak. You’ll be on the way to Edge soon.”

At this, her face brightened. “Any way I can convince you to pair me up with a certain turkey?”

“Will you leave me alone if I do?”

Just as she was about to respond with a witty comment, her phone rang and she noted with surprise and giddiness that it was the ringtone set for  _ him _ specifically. Some of her giddiness must have shown on her face because Reeve was studying her with curiosity and she picked up the call as she winked at Reeve. “Heya! Cat-boy and I were just talking about you.”

_ “You know I’m gonna kill you, right?” _ Reno’s voice came through, a hint of irritation mixed with humour.

She blinked. “Wha? Why?”

_ “You know why,” _ he accused and she could imagine his eyes flaring with annoyance.

“Uh why? I’m just talking to Reeve ‘bout pairing us up for the home visits.”

_ “You put fuckin’ toothpaste in my Oreos.” _

A bark of laughter escaped her as she imagined his face. “Oh!” she breathed out, her guffaws growing slightly louder and she could see Reeve staring at her with bemusement. “I totally forgot about that,” she responded, a little guilty, even though she couldn’t help but chortle. “Wish I caught your reaction on camera.”

_ “It tasted like fuckin’ disappointment,” _ he gritted out and she thought back to that raisin cookie he had made her a while ago.  _ “You realize this means war, right?” _ She could hear the smile in his voice and her heart swelled.

The peals of giggles were uncontrollable as she remembered what had started their prank war in the first place—the potato video call. Finally calm, she merely grinned impishly to her phone, her eyes sparkling with mirth as she responded the same way she did the last time he asked that question. “I’m counting on it. See you later, Turkey!”

She hung up before he could respond and scampered off towards Reeve’s desk. The Commissioner merely looked at her with a raised eyebrow because he knew it was better to let her do whatever she wanted to do when she was in a certain mood. Getting in the ninja’s way would only cause her to shift her attention.

“Gonna be borrowing some of your sticky notes,” Yuffie said as she swiped a handful of colourful notepads from his drawer. “Gonna give Reno’s car a bit of a temporary paint job before he gets off work. Tell Shelke to send me the list when it’s done. I’m gonna start heading over to Edge.”

Reeve could only shake his head in disbelief as she bounced out of his office.

Yuffie couldn’t help the grin from spreading on her face. She’d have to make sure Elena filmed his reaction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end! Thanks for staying! Honestly, it’s been so long since I’ve written a chaptered fic and I’m glad I chose something that was light-hearted and not needing a lot of planning. I’ve learned a lot during this process and was reminded a lot about writing (it’s been over a decade…) and I hope my next fic will only be better. There are so many talented writers on here that it makes me feel a little self-conscious sometimes. I hope everyone enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> As usual, comments and suggestions are very much appreciated!


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